Graveyard rapist operating in the Vaal sentenced to life imprisonment

VANDERBIJLPARK - The Sedibeng SAPS says a so-called graveyard rapist operating in the Vaal area has been sentenced to two life imprisonments in the Palm Ridge High Court in Gauteng. Police spokesperson, Captain Fikile Funda, yesterday said in a statement sent to 90.6 FM News the incidents occurred between April 2022 and February 2023 in Boipatong and Vanderbijlpark. The 55-year-old Moremi Christopher Happy Rafutho has been found guilty of raping at least eight women, including a 13-year-old girl and an 80-year-old grandmother. In some incidents he entered the victims’ houses while they were asleep, while other incidents occurred inside or around the Vanderbijlpark cemetery. All these cases were allocated to sergeant George Motloung of Sebokeng FCS. Funda says on 14 February last year, the suspect was arrested and has been linked to all these cases through DNA, fingerprints and cellphone records. He was found guilty this past Monday, 3 June 2024, on all the charges and received two life sentences for raping the elderly woman and the young girl. He also received another 66 years collectively for the other rape cases and for a house robbery charge. The District Commissioner, major general Khensani Lemba, said they hope the sentence will serve as a deterrent to perpetrators of heinous crimes against vulnerable groups.

PHOTO: (Vereeniging SAPS - Police member)