An ex-SANDF member was sentenced to life for rape and infecting a girlfriend with HIV. Justice served after years of delays.
Leon Conga, an ex-SANDF employee, was sentenced to life for raping his girlfriend and knowingly infecting her with HIV, leaving her with emotional scars.An ex-South African National Defence Force employee has been sentenced to life for raping his girlfriend and an additional 10 years for knowingly exposing and infecting her with HIV.Leon Santos Conga, 48, and Antoinette Ndishishi were in a relationship for four months from 16 December 2016 until April 2017.
Despite the lie, Ndishishi established a “no condom, no sex” rule in the relationship. Conga defied this rule and removed the condom when the two were intimate.“This apparently happened twice until the victim felt unwell and went to do an HIV test. When the results came back positive, she confronted Conga, who denied infecting her,” said National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana.
However, Pretoria Magistrates’ Court state prosecutor, Advocate Emile van der Merwe, called a witness, Professor Terresa Russouw, an HIV expert who testified about the effects of HIV and assisted the state in proving an attempted murder charge.Van der Merwe also provided evidence that revealed that Conga first tested HIV positive on 8 October 2007, therefore he was aware of his HIV status when he removed the condom and had intercourse with the victim.
“Taking antiretroviral treatment every night is a constant reminder of the scar he permanently gave her. As such, she has anxiety and fears about ever infecting her partner should she be in a relationship or infecting her child should she decide to have a baby,” Mahanjana said.When handing down the sentence, Magistrate Fikiswa Ntlati agreed with the state that Conga showed no remorse and that he committed a very serious offence that had devastating effects on Ndishishi and her family.
“We also want to send a clear message that offences of this nature that have permanent adverse impact on the victim will not be tolerated. Sexual crime offenders will be dealt with with the full might of the law,” Mahanjana said.AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit spokesperson, Barry Bateman, said it is an indictment on the criminal justice system that it took so many years to finalise this case.
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