A RAPIST who stoned his victim to death after dragging her from her shack to a hill in Lenasia, Johannesburg, has been sentenced to three life terms.
The Vereeniging Regional Court handed Benet Hobyani, 27, the sentence yesterday after he was found guilty of rape, murder, attempted murder, housebreaking, robbery with aggravated circumstances and kidnapping.
He will only be eligible for parole after serving 45 to 60 years.
Hobyani and a friend attacked two sisters, aged 22 and 45 at the time, while they slept in their shack in the Hospital Hills informal settlement in Lenasia at around 11pm on August 6 last year.
The women were taken to a nearby hill where they were raped, assaulted, stoned and left for dead.
The younger sibling miraculously survived and managed to drag herself back to the shack, which had been ransacked, and call for help.
The men also shot the sisters' neighbour, Bonginkosi Balela, in the leg as he was returning from a nearby shebeen.
The suspects were arrested within a week but the case was struck off the roll after about a month as police struggled to finalise evidence.
This allowed Hobyani's accomplice to flee to Mozambique, which does not have an extradition agreement with South Africa.
- moengk@sowetan.co.za
Killer rapist gets three life terms
A RAPIST who stoned his victim to death after dragging her from her shack to a hill in Lenasia, Johannesburg, has been sentenced to three life terms.
The Vereeniging Regional Court handed Benet Hobyani, 27, the sentence yesterday after he was found guilty of rape, murder, attempted murder, housebreaking, robbery with aggravated circumstances and kidnapping.
He will only be eligible for parole after serving 45 to 60 years.
Hobyani and a friend attacked two sisters, aged 22 and 45 at the time, while they slept in their shack in the Hospital Hills informal settlement in Lenasia at around 11pm on August 6 last year.
The women were taken to a nearby hill where they were raped, assaulted, stoned and left for dead.
The younger sibling miraculously survived and managed to drag herself back to the shack, which had been ransacked, and call for help.
The men also shot the sisters' neighbour, Bonginkosi Balela, in the leg as he was returning from a nearby shebeen.
The suspects were arrested within a week but the case was struck off the roll after about a month as police struggled to finalise evidence.
This allowed Hobyani's accomplice to flee to Mozambique, which does not have an extradition agreement with South Africa.
- moengk@sowetan.co.za
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