A 32-year-old man was recently sentenced to life imprisonment by the Nkomazi Magistrate’s Court for raping his six year-old stepdaughter.
The incident occurred on March 25, 2017. According to police, the accused raped the girl while her mother was preparing lunchboxes. When the mother of the victim went to the bedroom she couldn’t find either her boyfriend or the little girl. The accused later emerged and said he had accompanied the girl to the toilet.
The mother, who was unsettled by the morning’s events, questioned her daughter to get her version of what actually transpired. The little girl then confessed that she had been raped by her stepfather and further indicated that it was not the first time it had happened and that he warned her not tell anyone. A case of rape was opened and he was arrested the same day.
Read: Suspect appears for kidnapping, murder and rape of a minor
In a separate incident, a 62-year-old man, Phillip Victor Mthimunye was handed an 18-year sentence by the Mdutjana Regional Court for repeatedly raping an 11-year-old girl.
The court heard that the accused had repeatedly raped the girl since November 2016 and would give her money thereafter. The matter was discovered by the victim’s mother, who grew suspicious when she noticed her daughter holding a R10 note and when questioned, admitted that the accused had given it to her after having raped her.
The matter was then reported to the police on December 21, 2017 and the accused was arrested a day thereafter.
Lt Gen Mondli Zuma welcomed the sentences and applauded members of the South African Police Service for their hard work and determination in collecting all the evidence that positively linked the accused, leading to these convictions and long sentences.
