Cape Town – A traditional healer was reportedly sentenced to two life sentences after pleading guilty to the rape and murder of Philile Nzuza.
Lindokuhle Mzimela, 25, was sentenced by the Pietermaritzburg high court on Thursday, reports said.
The mother of five had been walking home when she was attacked by Mzimela and his friend, Khetha Prince Zulu, 19, in December last year, reported IOL.
The report said Zulu was jailed for 25 years after telling the court that he did not play a part in the murder but he had wanted only to rape her.
On the day of the killing, both men said they had been drinking at a tavern and, on their way to another tavern, saw Nzuza walking with a man, the report said.
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The accused initially wanted to rob the victim of her cellphone but decided to rape her when he found that she didn’have one, reported TimesLIVE.
“As we approached, I took out a knife to threaten them. The male saw us and ran away. The female was left behind. I later found out that the female was Nzuza. We asked her for a cellphone and she said she did not have one. We decided that since she had no phone, we should take her and rape her,” the report quoted Mzimela as saying.
He said he used his knife to threaten her to walk with them to an unfinished house structure, where he instructed Nzuza to remove her dress, the report said.
“She refused, I got angry and stabbed her around her stomach and chest area until she removed her dress and underwear. When she was naked … I raped her,”the report quoted him as saying.
He said after his friend also raped Nzuza, he slit her throat for fear she would be able to identify them, the report said.
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Compiled by Olwethu Mpeshe
