Seeing the rapist who attacked her being sentenced to 1,088 years brought so much relief to a 19-year-old woman who says she will finally be able to sleep with ease.
She is Sello Abram Mapunya's youngest victim after he raped her when she was just 14.
Mapunya was on Thursday handed the hefty sentence along with five life-terms in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria for his five-year reign of terror which spanned between 2014 and 2019.
Mapunya committed 55 known rapes and a raft of other crimes which include house breakings, robberies and assault with intention to cause grievous bodily harm.
The 33-year-old terrorised communities of Atteridgeville, Mamelodi, Olievenhoutbosch and Silverton where he broke into his victims’ homes in the middle of the night, assaulted, robbed and raped them in front of their children and family members.
The woman said the sentence would serve as a significant step in allowing her to make peace with the violent crime she experienced.
The woman said she still has nightmares from the ordeal that took place nearly six years ago.
“I still experience bouts of anxiety because of the trauma I suffered. It gets worse at night because he broke into my home in the middle of the night,” she said.
She said the ordeal affected her to the extent that she failed grade 9 during the year of the incident.
“My grades dropped tremendously and I failed. But I managed to pass my matric and I am making peace with what happened and I go for counselling regularly,” she said.
There was celebration in the court gallery which was packed by victims and their family members.
Another victim told Sowetan that she was overcome with relief and joy, and that the conclusion to the case will heal her psychological and emotional wounds.
“I have been going for therapy for the past three years and I feel I can stop because this painful chapter of my life has been closed. I am happy and I have healed,” she said.
While handing down the sentence Judge Papi Mosopa ordered that Mapunya’s sentences should not run concurrently because the crimes he committed happened separately.
“When the accused started his criminal activities, he would threaten his victims. But he developed a propensity to violence where victims were stabbed with knives and screwdrivers. Some were assaulted with hammers.
“In Phomolong, he targeted victims who lived in informal settlements; in Nellmapius, he targeted victims who lived in RDP houses. It shows that he had his own targets, he studied and did research on his victims. This is why he is being classified as a serial rapist because his modus operandi was the same,” said Mosopa.
He said the Mapunya broke into the homes of his victims in the middle of the night, shone a light from his torch on their faces to avoid being identified, and instructed them to cover their faces with blankets before raping them.
He said victims failed to identify him and that he was linked to the crimes through DNA and fingerprints.
“There were 11 victim affect reports presented to the court. This is not enough because you are convicted of 55 counts of rape. It is common cause that all the victims were left traumatised.
“Some became suicidal and they have developed anger towards males in general as a result of what the accused did to them,” said Mosopa.
“Most have relocated, some left their employment. ”
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