'This is what we prayed for'

2006-10-31 09:05

Liela Magnus

Pretoria - There were emotional scenes in Pretoria High Court on Monday after one of the men who attacked a family at the Grasmere toll plaza near Johannesburg in 2004 got three life sentences.

"This was what we had prayed for, that justice would prevail and that these people would be removed from the streets," said a woman who was raped by two of his accomplices, wiping tears from her cheeks.

Jacob Cokinha Kasper, 39, also known as Ishmail Casimo, was sent to prison for an additional 15 years for robbery with extenuating circumstances, five years for attempted murder, five years for kidnapping and life sentences for each of the three charges of being an accessory to rape.

He and three other men attacked a man, his wife and her brother's 14-year-old daughter at the offramp to the Grasmere plaza in March 2004.

Their new bakkie was hijacked and the woman and girl repeatedly raped.

One suspect still at large

The suspects were from Mozambique. One of them was positively linked to the crime by DNA and was being held in a Mozambican prison. Another one was shot dead and yet another one was still at large.

The woman stared intently at Kasper while judge Mahomed Ismail read out his ruling. She kept looking at him after court had adjourned and while he left the dock and walked down the stairs toward the holding cells.

She then turned around and hugged Elbe Leonard, the state prosecutor.

Ismail rejected Kasper's version that he was not guilty to the hijacking of the family's bakkie and of the rapes.

Kasper said he was merely hitching a ride towards the city with the other men. He said they went to a disco and the other men had bought him drinks and food. On the way home he fell asleep and only woke up when the vehicle stopped at the Grasmere tollgate. He said he did what the other men told him to do as they were armed.

Trial in Mozambique

The mother of the girl, now 17, said she was relieved about the sentencing.

"It shows you the one who shared in the spoils was as guilty as the perpetrator. He (Kasper) has daughters and yet he could not stop them (the women) from being raped," she said.

She said her daughter was still receiving counselling and was dreading the fact that the case would continue in Mozambique.

"We heard that she would have to testify against the man in an open court. This is causing her a lot of stress, but we will get through it.

"We have to. Women are strong," said the mother.

It was not known when the case against the man in Mozambique would start.

- Beeld