Det-Sgt Klaas Edward Mulungwa has cracked enough child abuse and gender-based violence (GBV) cases to know that most perpetrators are not remorseful for their horrific crimes.
One of Mulungwa’s investigation recently secured a conviction and a 30-year jail sentence for a gang member who raped a 14-year-old girl in 2017 in Ritavi, Limpopo.
The sentence was handed down on July 28, five years after the rape occurred.
Mulungwa has been working for the Family Violence, Child Protection, and Sexual Offenses unit in Tzaneen for the past 14 years and has looked into the eyes of enough abusers to know that they have no mercy.
“They are cold and have no remorse. Some will even look you in the eye and tell you that a 12 or 13-year-old girl is their girlfriend,” he said.
He is currently tackling 80 cases with 50 already being heard at the regional court.
Speaking on his latest case, which has added to his list of successful convictions, Malungwa said he struggled to get the victim to speak to him.
The 14-year-old from Lusaka Village in Ritavi was attacked by two men, including Nhlamulo Nyathi, who was 18 years old at the time.
Nyathi and another suspect, who police are still trying to trace, attacked the girl while she was walking home from visiting her sister. They dragged her near the river where they raped her while threatening her with a knife.
Nyathi then took the girl to his home where he continued raping her until the early hours of the morning.
Before letting her go, Nyathi threatened the girl that they would burn her family’s home and harm her should she tell anyone about what had happened.
“I had to try hard to comfort her and make her comfortable enough to trust me. She cried a lot [during the investigation]. She was afraid,” Mulungwa recalled.
Nyathi, despite his youthful age at the time, was already linked to a notorious gang known for raping and hacking people with pangas in the area. The gang called itself Boko Haram, after the terrorist group in northern Nigeria.
Mulungwa said the girl eventually started giving information and pointed out Nyathi’s home while DNA samples linked him to the rape.
“That’s how I always secure convictions. I make sure to gather all the information and DNA. I don’t want to miss anything.”
The father of three boys said he was inspired by his brother who has now retired as a police officer.
He has managed to put other criminals behind bars in previous cases, including 14 dockets linked to one perpetrator who committed assaults and one murder and was sentenced to 54 years in prison.
“Seeing the pain that abuse inflicts on the most vulnerable including children and pensioners keeps me motivated to keep fighting crime. I know that at the end of the day the victims are depending on me and the courts to bring them justice.”
mahopoz@sowetan.co.za
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