Nine life sentences for #RhodesRapist
The Western Cape High Court has sentenced Mthunzi Hlomane, who robbed, kidnapped and raped five of his victims, to nine life sentences.
|||Cape Town - The Western Cape High Court has sentenced Mthunzi Hlomane, known as the Rhodes Memorial Rapist, to nine life sentences on Monday.
He is charged with robbing, kidnapping, assaulting and raping five of his six victims near the University of Cape Town.
Graphic details about the way he carried out his assaults were made public in open court. The plea and sentencing agreement the state offered Hlomane, explains that he would watch porn starring women with braids, before stalking victims that bore a resemblance.
He threatened the women with a knife, taking pictures of them while they were naked, and traumatised them further by saying he would upload the graphic images online if they did not comply.
The serial rapist struck in the vicinity of Rhodes Memorial in February, holding his last victim - a UCT student - hostage in bushes near the famous monument for five hours while he raped her repeatedly.
The attacker eventually released the student at 1am on that Friday and she managed to get to police to report the incident.
Police launched a man hunt for Hlomane, but it was the triangulation of one of his victim's cellphones that lead authorities to a secluded bushy area in the vicinity of UCT where the convicted rapist hid.
Hlomane is said to have operated in that vicinity between November last year and February this year, always targeting women who were jogging at night near Rhodes Memorial.
IOL