“I was lustful”: Mitchells Plain man jailed for raping 11-year-old girl

A Mitchells Plain court has sentenced a 54-year-old man, Saadiq Rajap, to 15 years in prison for raping an 11-year-old girl after rejecting his claim of consent. Rajap was convicted of rape and sexual assault in the Mitchells Plain Regional Court, where he admitted to touching the girl and knowing she was a minor. The offences occurred on April 10, 2024, after the girl accompanied a 13-year-old friend to his house to play pool.

Rajap then drove the girls to Mitchells Plain Town Centre and sent the older girl into a shop, leaving him alone with the 11-year-old in his taxi. The girl testified that Rajap touched her breasts over her clothing and later, while his taxi was being repaired in Khayelitsha, he touched her breasts and private parts and inserted his finger into her vagina.

Rajap denied raping the child and claimed he was "lustful" at the time, but the court found his version of events to be inconsistent. The prosecutor argued that the girl's evidence was clear, credible, and consistent. Rajap was sentenced to 15 years' direct imprisonment for rape, with five years suspended for five years, and a further five-year sentence for sexual assault was wholly suspended.

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