South African gets two life sentences for rape and murder of Alene Booysen
Women place white flowers outside parliament during a demonstration in Cape Town on the International Day for the Prevention of Violence against Women. South Africa has one of the highest rates of rape in the world.
Johannes Kana has been sentenced to two life sentences for the horrific rape and 17-year-old Anene Booysen at a construction site in Bredasdorp in February.
More from GlobalPost: South Africa's 'Delhi moment'
Booysen was gang raped and disemboweled. She died of her injuries at a Cape Town hospital shortly afterwards, but not before telling police that five or six men attacked her.
She also said one of her assailants was named “Zwai,” which led police to arrest Jonathan “Zwai” Davids. Charges against him were later dropped, as he was able to provide an alibi and forensic evidence did not implicate him.
Forensic evidence did, however, place the 22-year-old Kana at the crime scene.
Prosecutors said that Booysen may have been confused about the number of men who raped her since she was heavily medicated when she spoke to police. They only put Kana on trial.
He pleaded guilty to raping Booysen but denied disemboweling her.
The article you just read is free because dedicated readers and listeners like you chose to support our nonprofit newsroom. Our team works tirelessly to ensure you hear the latest in international, human-centered reporting every weekday. But our work would not be possible without you. We need your help.
Make a gift today to help us reach our $25,000 goal and keep The World going strong. Every gift will get us one step closer.