Dudu Busani
Dudu Busani
Randburg serial rapist Piet Meya was so overwhelmed by big city living that he went on a raping spree, thinking that that was how city people lived.
But advocate Aristotle Mathonsi's mitigating factors did not wash.
Meya's w as sentenced to four life terms and 107 years in prison in the Johannesburg high court yesterday.
Meya, 29, was originally charged with 25 counts of rape, but was convicted of seven. He was also found guilty of multiple counts of robbery, assault, kidnapping and the possession of firearms and ammunition.
Only a month after arriving in Gauteng in 2006 Meya, with several accomplices, went on a raping spree in areas around Randburg.
He lived in the bush and targeted women of all ages and races coming to and from the Northriding Shopping Centre.
He would grab them and at knife or gunpoint, drag them to a nearby veld where he raped and robbed them.
Passing sentence yesterday, Judge Nico Coetzee said Meya's deprived background was no excuse for the crimes he had committed.
"Rape is a very serious crime and though the victims have recovered from physical injuries, they still suffer psychologically. Your conduct had devastating results," the judge said.
The sentences will not run concurrently.
Serial rapist gets four life terms
Dudu Busani
Dudu Busani
Randburg serial rapist Piet Meya was so overwhelmed by big city living that he went on a raping spree, thinking that that was how city people lived.
But advocate Aristotle Mathonsi's mitigating factors did not wash.
Meya's w as sentenced to four life terms and 107 years in prison in the Johannesburg high court yesterday.
Meya, 29, was originally charged with 25 counts of rape, but was convicted of seven. He was also found guilty of multiple counts of robbery, assault, kidnapping and the possession of firearms and ammunition.
Only a month after arriving in Gauteng in 2006 Meya, with several accomplices, went on a raping spree in areas around Randburg.
He lived in the bush and targeted women of all ages and races coming to and from the Northriding Shopping Centre.
He would grab them and at knife or gunpoint, drag them to a nearby veld where he raped and robbed them.
Passing sentence yesterday, Judge Nico Coetzee said Meya's deprived background was no excuse for the crimes he had committed.
"Rape is a very serious crime and though the victims have recovered from physical injuries, they still suffer psychologically. Your conduct had devastating results," the judge said.
The sentences will not run concurrently.
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