The Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court has sentenced Nigerian national Peter Akadoronge for repeated rape and trafficking of some ladies from Limpopo after job-baiting them.
Akadoronge, 37, was sentenced to five life terms plus five years for crimes that happened in Thohoyandou on November 26, 2017.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said three women in search of work were approached by three Nigerian men with offers of employment.
One of the women suggested they go to a nearby nightclub to discuss the offer of employment.
There, the men bought them drinks that were spiked, which knocked them out. On regaining consciousness, they realised they were in an unknown location.
NPA spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane said “They testified that they found themselves in a room with two unknown ladies. The room had no windows, except for one mattress that was on the floor. The two ladies informed them that they were in Rosettenville, Johannesburg.”
She added the three men removed the women and thereafter told them they had found the jobs they were looking for, which entailed them selling their bodies. The complainants told their captors they were not going to sell their bodies. At this point, their captors started assaulting them and told them to take off their clothes.
They testified they were raped as an induction to teach them about their newly found jobs. After raping them, they were forced-fed with pills on a daily basis while being held captive.
Mjonondwane said different men were brought in to have sexual intercourse with them, following payment to their captors.
If they refused to have sex with these men, they would be assaulted and deprived of food.
As time went by, their captors started trusting them and would leave them unguarded in the compound.
On May 9, 2018, they managed to escape and stopped a vehicle that took them to Moffatview police station.
The Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit took them to a centre, where they were counselled, examined by doctors and treated for drug addiction.
The next day, Detective Armstrong Ndlala took them to Rosettenville in search of the suspects and they managed to point out Akadoronge who was found standing next to a streetlight with eight other men.
They were all arrested but later released, except for Akadoronge. He remained in custody until the finalisation of his case.