'Sex thug' gets life + 10

2004-06-15 11:30

Johannesburg - A Johannesburg man who raped a six-year-old in 2002, injuring her so severely that her intestines were hanging between her legs, was sentenced to life in prison, plus another ten years for kidnapping her.

Reuben Modiba, 30, of Alexandra, stormed out of the Johannesburg High Court down to the cells, his leg irons clanking, when Judge Nico Coetzee pronounced the sentence on Tuesday.

The court orderly yelled at him to wait for the judge to finish with him, but Modiba angrily muttered in Sepedi "I'm not waiting for anything."

Coetzee told Modiba has crime was "horrific".

"This is the worst case of rape I've ever dealt with," he said, adding that Modiba, earlier described as a "sexual thug" had kidnapped "this small defenceless girl" for his own gratification and had then simply abandoned her.

He had shown no remorse during his trial.

Coetzee also found the fact that Modiba claimed he came from a disadvantaged background - true of most South Africans - in no way entitled him to a lighter sentence.

The ten year sentence will run concurrently with the life sentence.

Depending on the prison he is sent to and his behaviour there, Modiba is likely to be released between 2024 and 2029.

During closing argument on Monday prosecutor Herman Broodryk told the court he would have called for the death penalty had it been in operation.

"The accused, Reuben Modiba, acted like an animal satisfying his lust on a small defenceless child," he said when urging the court to impose a severe sentence.

'He could remember nothing'

Modiba, in his own defence, claimed in court that he could remember nothing of his whereabouts and actions on the day of the rape on September 7, 2002.

The last State witness, psychiatrist Dr Leon Fine, told the court: "The accused's amnesia plea appears not to be genuine or consistent with the facts."

Broodryk on Monday referred to the evidence of the paediatric surgeon Professor Peter Beale, who performed the reconstructive surgery on the child.

Beale told the court two weeks ago that the injuries to the child were the worst he ever saw on a girl as a result of sexual abuse.

Further aggravating factors place on record by Broodryk was the testimony of a social worker who counselled the girl on 22 occasions.

The court was told by the social worker that the girl was still unable to speak of the rape.

Other evidence in court from the girl's mother was that the minor had undergone a complete personality change since the attack.

On Monday the court rejected Modiba's defence as one of a "non-pathological criminal incapacity", meaning he had no conscious control over his actions.

The court said it found Modiba to have to been the rapist as the DNA on clothing at the crime scene matched his. He was convicted of rape and kidnapping the girl.

- SAPA