Six-year prison sentence handed to cop whose fingers were bitten off during attempted rape

An off-duty policeman who attempted to rape a woman who bit his fingers off while fighting back, has been sentenced to six years in jail.

Constable Thabiso Shabangu was this week handed the prison term in the Nigel Regional Court and has since been dismissed from the police service, Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) spokesperson Sontaga Seisa said on Thursday.

IPID investigated the matter following the incident in July last year at a party in Nigel, on the East Rand in Johannesburg.

Shabangu, 33, who was based at the SAPS' VIP Protection Unit in Pretoria, entered a bedroom in the early hours of the morning, where he found a 29-year-old woman asleep, Seisa said.

"He quietly and uninvited joined the victim in bed. He then put his body on her and throttled her neck whilst trying to rape her," Seisa said.

"The victim fought back and in the process she managed to bite off the police constable's fingers."

The incident was reported to police and investigated by the directorate, leading to Shabangu's conviction.