Two men jailed for life for raping teenage lesbian in brutal act of ‘hatred’

Woman's hands

Two men have been handed life sentences after raping a lesbian teenager in South Africa.

Getwin Moloto, 30, and Lebohang Makola, 35, from Pretoria were sentenced in court on Tuesday (5 April) following the attack that took place on 16 December, 2020.

According to North Gauteng regional spokesperson for the director of public prosecutions, Lumka Mahanjana, the victim was ambushed as she tried “to open a gate at her house, coming from accompanying her partner.”

“The two, working with a third accomplice, grabbed her and carried her to a shack where they raped her.”

While Moloto was attacking the teenager, “he kept on asking her why she was taking their women. However, in the process of raping her Makola continued to ask her to be his girlfriend,” Mahanjana added.

“After the incident, the victim asked if she can use the toilet outside and they agreed but allowed her to only wear pants. When she got to the door, she ran to her home three houses away and told her mother what had happened.”

The case was then reported to the police and the woman was taken for examination by medical professionals.

Mahanjana said: “The victim’s underwear was found in Moloto’s yard. Moloto was linked to the crime after the victim identified him. He later pointed out Makola as his co-accused.”

Prosecutor Paulina Mochaka told the court that hate towards the victim’s sexuality “influenced the offence.”

In reaction to two men’s sentencing, North Gauteng Director of Public Prosecutions, Advocate Sibongile Mzinyathi said “crimes that are influenced by hatred towards the LGBTQI+ community would not be tolerated, and will be prosecuted.”

Rates of rape are extremely high in South Africa, with nearly 10,000 cases between July and September of 2021 alone.

LGBT+ women are targeted with so-called “corrective” rape, where men forced women to have sex with them in a vile attempt to change their sexuality.

Black lesbians who live in townships where corrective rape is rife are subject to cultural and social discrimination, according to Action Aid.

This group particularly lack “sufficient support systems” and research conducted in the Western Cape in 2008 found that 86 per cent of women lived in fear of sexual assault in comparison with just 44 per cent of their white counterparts.

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