Father sentenced to life after raping daughter for six years
The accused raped his daughter until she fell pregnant in 2006. He would also assault her daughter while she was pregnant with a knobkerrie.
The Kwaggafontein Regional Court sentenced a 53-year-old man of Verena to life imprisonment and an additional six years after he was found guilty of raping and assaulting his own daughter.
The court heard that from 2004 to 2010 the accused would rape his daughter until she was 17 years of age when they were staying together. These rapes happened when the victim’s mother was not around, in different places and at times he would rape the victim while the siblings were playing outside until she fell pregnant in 2006.
“The accused was arrested in 2013 after the victim reported the rape ordeal to her mother and family members who assisted in alerting the police. The accused absconded his trial and was re-arrested in 2018. During the trial, the accused pleaded not guilty to the charges but admitted having sexual intercourse with his own daughter for the period of six years and pleaded consent as his defence,” said National Persecuting Authority spokesperson, Monica Nyuswa.
The Regional Court Prosecutor, Nicky Coetzee, led testimonies of the victim and her mother who told the court that the first rape incident took place when she was 17 years of age, where the accused took her to the bushes and had sexual intercourse with her and said that it was part of their culture that he must have intercourse with her before she went to the initiation school.
She further told the court that even when she was already pregnant the accused would hit her with a “knobkerrie” until it broke. The court, however, found him guilty as charged. The state further indicated that crimes of this nature are mostly done by the people known to the victims, therefore, a prescribed minimum sentence must be imposed.
The accused was charged under the common law charge of rape as well of Contravention of Section 3 of Act 32 of 2007 since the rapes continued after the commencement of the New Sexual Offences act that came into operation in December 2017. This was taken together for the purpose of the sentence. The accused was sentenced to life imprisonment and an additional six years for assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm.
The court further ordered that his name be entered into the Sexual Offences register and was found not fit to possess a firearm.
