SA serial rapist gets 42 life sentences

JOHANNESBURG – A South African court handed down 42 life sentences on Friday to a former chef convicted on 103 counts of rape, kidnapping and indecent assault after a spree of attacks on young schoolgirls, media reported.

Fanwell Khumalo, 42, protested his innocence to the last despite 23 positive DNA tests from samples taken from victims and their clothing. “I apologise for wasting taxpayers’ money on this (18-month) trial that could have been used for the sick and hungry,” the South African Press Association quoted him as saying, after the sentence was passed.Khumalo was arrested in 2001 and charged with raping dozens of girls under the age of 16 in Johannesburg suburbs.His sentence, which includes a number of mandatory life terms for rape of minors, means an effective 270 years in prison with no possibility of parole.- Nampa-Reuters”I apologise for wasting taxpayers’ money on this (18-month) trial that could have been used for the sick and hungry,” the South African Press Association quoted him as saying, after the sentence was passed.Khumalo was arrested in 2001 and charged with raping dozens of girls under the age of 16 in Johannesburg suburbs.His sentence, which includes a number of mandatory life terms for rape of minors, means an effective 270 years in prison with no possibility of parole.- Nampa-Reuters