Staff Reporter
The Kakamas Regional Court convicted Terence Markus, 36, for attempted murder of his 23 year old girlfriend and sentenced him to 18 years’ imprisonment.
A charge of rape was withdrawn after the court found that the available evidence was insufficient to sustain a prosecution on that charge.
The incident dates back to Wednesday, 14 August 2024 when members of Kakamas SAPS received a report concerning a 23-year-old woman who was allegedly raped by her boyfriend.
Upon arrival at the premises, police found the victim suffering from serious injuries.
During the investigation, police established that the accused had allegedly assaulted the victim by striking her on the head with a garden spade, leaving her with a severely fractured skull.
Cases of attempted murder and rape were subsequently registered at the Kakamas Police Station.
The investigation was assigned to Detective Sergeant Derrick Dippenaar, who conducted a thorough investigation and left no stone unturned in ensuring that the accused was brought before the court.
The accused was subsequently arrested, and the matter proceeded to trial until the conviction on Tuesday, 15 September 2026.
The court ruled that three years of the sentence were suspended for five years, on condition that he is not convicted of a similar offence during the period of suspension.
Additionally he was declared unfit to possess a firearm.
The District Commissioner of the ZFM District, Major General Monica Sebili, welcomed the sentence and commended Detective Sergeant Dippenaar for his diligent investigation and commitment to ensuring that justice was served.
Sibili affirmed that the South African Police Service (SAPS) Reset Agenda is yielding positive results in the Northern Cape, with victims of gender-based violence seeing perpetrators brought to justice.
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