This man is dangerous. A man like this can't be allowed to walk free in a society where the rights and physical integrity of women are cherished. State prosecutor Nickie Turner said this, calling for a man found guilty this week of kidnapping his ex-girlfriend, then assaulting and raping her, to be jailed for life.
In a fit of jealous rage Shane de Bruyn, 41, subjected his 21-year-old former lover to two days of sheer terror in May last year.
This man is dangerous. A man like this can't be allowed to walk free in a society where the rights and physical integrity of women are cherished. State prosecutor Nickie Turner said this, calling for a man found guilty this week of kidnapping his ex-girlfriend, then assaulting and raping her, to be jailed for life.
In a fit of jealous rage Shane de Bruyn, 41, subjected his 21-year-old former lover to two days of sheer terror in May last year.
Seeing her outside Shoprite mall in Grahamstown in the car of a colleague he suspected her of being in a relationship with, he grabbed her, forced her into a vehicle and got the driver to drop them off at the Manley Flats turnoff on the N2.
He tied her to a tree, assaulted her and raped her, before fetching his car and taking her to a local hotel, where he raped her again.
The next day he put her on the back seat of his car and drove her to East London, later returning to Grahamstown.
She was admitted to hospital with extensive injuries to her head, face and body. De Bruyn had hit her on the head so hard that she suffered permanent hearing loss.
In arguing for a life sentence in the Grahamstown high court on Monday, Turner said the courts needed to protect the rights of women.
Turner called for a life sentence for rape, and long sentences for assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm. She said De Bruyn had demonstrated that he posed a severe danger to women and that he was a dangerous man.
“The court cannot allow a man of the accused's makeup to remain in a society where the rights and physical integrity of women are cherished. The accused is a perfect example of the rot in South Africa where some men think they are superior to women and it matters not how they treat them,” Turner said.
“Others out there who are like-minded must be firmly shown by the court that this approach will not be tolerated and that the courts will jealously guard and advance the rights of women.”
Judge Mandisa Kahla convicted the Extension 9 man on charges of kidnapping, assaulting, and raping his ex-girlfriend in May last year.
De Bruyn sobbed in court as Kahla passed judgment and afterwards hugged his friends tearfully, including the sister of his victim, with whom he has a child.
De Bruyn will be sentenced on November 1.
