A 40-year-old pastor was given a life sentence in prison by the Viljoenskroon magistrate’s court in the Free State on Monday for keeping a 50-year-old woman against her will for eight months and repeatedly raping her.
Office Samson Choniswa, of Rammulotsi, was also given a prison term of five years for kidnapping, four years for theft, and five years for assault with the intent to cause great bodily harm by Magistrate Sbongile Mathambeka.
Speaking on behalf of the National Prosecuting Authority, Phaladi Shuping said that the complainant was hitchhiking on August 31, 2020, in an effort to travel to Johannesburg after burying her mother.
“Choniswa told the complainant he can organise transport for her but they must first go to his house and the complainant agreed.
“He raped her several times and assaulted her. He took her cellphone and R1,800 cash,” Shuping said.
The pastor claimed that she refused his proposal of marriage while they were at his home. “He refused to let her go and kept her in the house for eight months against her will.
On March 11 of last year, the woman managed to escape. She reported the incident at the Potchefstroom police station the following day by hitchhiking there.
In court, Choniswa denied raping the complainant and claimed it was consensual.
He claimed that the complainant approached him and asked to be his wife. The woman’s injuries, according to prosecutor Siphokazi Tunzi, showed she was being held against her will, the prosecutor told the court.