GBV accused handed nine life-terms for rape of his 10-year-old stepdaughter

A 43-year-old man has been sentenced to nine life-terms for raping his 10-year-old stepdaughter.

The man was also slapped with three years imprisonment for common assault, 10 years for assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm to the victim’s younger sister, who was 4 years old at the time and 6 years imprisonment for assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm on his wife.

During the trial, the man pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The court heard that between 2015 and November 2016, the man poured paraffin on the victim’s younger sister who was 4- years- old and set her alight and did not take the child for medical attention until she healed naturally.

The National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA) Mashudu Malabi-Dzhangi said the man continued with his assault on the mother and children over a period of time.

“The daughter informed her mother each time the accused raped her and she would mark the dates on the calendar.  The child will be called into a room, where the accused will forcefully undress and rape her. Whenever the mother confronted the accused about raping the victim, the accused would assault her too.”

Malabi-Dzhangi said the rape and abuse was reported to police.

She said the case was challenging, in that the victim was 10-years-old when she was raped and no DNA results were available at the time of the trial.”

“All the incidents were reported to the police, but the accused was never arrested until the matter was reported again to the police in November 2016, after the teachers noticed the injuries on the child’s body.  The children’s school performance deteriorated and they repeated grades, and they are unable to talk about the incident as it reminds those of the trauma.”

Malabi-Dzhangi said the abuse the man inflicted on the mother caused irreparable damage to her.

“Medical reports indicate the mother won’t be able to reproduce as she suffered serious damage to the womb. The Pre-Sentence Report for the accused was also handed in and the Probation Officer Maphela Sefalafala recommended that the accused must be sentenced to nine life terms for the rapes.”

 The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has commended the sentence handed down, saying it will serve as a deterrent to abusive stepfathers to stop preying on their stepchildren.

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