вЂњ Harsher sentences must be meted out because of the abuse that takes place on a daily basis.вЂќ State prosecutor Yusuf Baba was quoted as saying in response to the sentence: State prosecutors had asked the magistrate for jail time in order to send out a serious message to society. вЂњ The crime of crimen injuria is generally not considered a serious offence,вЂќ the magistrate said but вЂњit depends how a particular personвЂ™s dignity has been impaired.вЂќ In delivering sentence, Raghoonandan acknowledged that the penalty was unusually severe. In MombergвЂ™s case, Magistrate Pravina Raghoonandan threw the book, handing down the maximum permitted sentence of three years in prison, with one year suspended for three years on the condition that she does not re-offend. After UCT student and model Djavan Arrigone was found guilty in 2016 of not just crimen injuria but also assault, for urinating on a black man from the balcony of Tiger Tiger nightclub in Cape Town, he was sentenced to community service and a suspended prison sentence.

Scrutiny in a sentence