'No mercy' for HIV rapist

2003-11-18 22:19

Liela Magnus

Pretoria - The regional court here has found a man guilty of attempted murder for raping a young woman, knowing he was HIV-positive.

Lucas Nyalunga, 34, was also found guilty on the rape charge on Tuesday.

A deputy director in the office of the director of public prosecutions, Retha Meintjies, said she believed this was the first time such a ruling had been made.

Nyalunga pleaded not guilty earlier, but admitted in court he knew that he was HIV-positive, that the virus was sexually transmitted and that a person could die because of it.

It is not sure whether the 27-year-old victim contracted the virus through the rape. She refused to have herself tested and said she would commit suicide if she were HIV-positive.

Nyalunga met the woman near Kameeldrift outside Pretoria in 1999 as she was on her way to work. He threatened her with a knife and raped her.

Had just been released from prison

She told her employer who alerted police. Nyalunga was arrested within an hour. There was blood on his underwear.

The rape took place only days after Nyalunga had been released from prison where he had served a term for assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm.

Liezl Gerntholtz of the Aids Law Project welcomed the court's decision, but warned that the ruling could prevent people from going for HIV tests because they would be afraid that similar charges could be levelled against them.

An English court recently found Mohammed Dica guilty of assault with the intent to do grievous bodily harm after he deliberately passed HIV on to two of his lovers. He was sentenced to eight years in prison.

In South Africa, there have been two cases where a man, who knew he was HIV-positive, was charged for having sex with a woman. Both cases were withdrawn.

The South African Law Commission found a few years ago that existing laws were adequate to deal with cases where people deliberately transmitted HIV to others.

Meintjies said on Tuesday the latest ruling proved that South African laws could adapt to circumstances.

- Beeld