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The Roodepoort Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday sentenced a stepfather to life imprisonment for raping and impregnating his partner’s daughter.
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane said the rapes were committed over some time. She added the girl did not report the rapes because the accused had threatened to kill her.
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“The victim was 15 years old when she reported the incidents on 25 June 2022. She stated that she was raped since the age of 11,” Mjonondwane said.
“At the time of reporting, she had just given birth. The state conducted DNA and paternity tests on the accused and the newborn child. The results were positive.”
The girl said she was raped when her mother, a domestic worker, had gone to stay at her workplace.
The accused pleaded guilty to the charge and was convicted.
At the sentencing stage, the prosecutor, Advocate Zanele Chauke, argued for life imprisonment, stating that the accused abused a position of trust, and he pleaded guilty as there was overwhelming evidence against him.
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She added that rape is a heinous crime that is degrading to victims and violates their dignity as well as their sense of security.
She argued that the plea by the accused must not be mistaken as a sign of remorse.
Magistrate Ettiene van Niekerk agreed with the state’s submissions and sentenced the accused to life imprisonment.
In April, the Modimolle Regional Court sentenced a 33-year-old foreign national to three life terms for raping three children aged eight, nine and 11.
Tinos Chimeze of Zimbabwe pleaded not guilty to all counts, alleging that the victims only came to his house to view his woodwork and that he even offered them food.
This was not the case.
“The evidence revealed that the accused had been luring the victims to his place in 2022, offering them soft drinks and food. He then proceeded to rape the victims in his house in the presence of all the victims,” NPA spokesperson Mashudu Malabi-Dzhangi said.
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