For three years, a young girl was trapped within the cruel and criminal clutches of her biological father.
He repeatedly raped her from the age of nine years old, threatening to kill her if she spoke out.
The girl endured the physical and mental torture from 2017 until the man was finally arrested in October 2020.
The reign of terror he inflicted on his daughter finally came to an end on March 24 when the Estcourt Regional Court sentenced the 36-year-old man to two terms of life imprisonment for rape.
Caught red-handed
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) KZN spokesperson Natasha Kara said the case began when the man raped the girl in 2020 and was caught by his wife.
“He was caught by his wife, who found him and the child alone in a room. The man was in a state of undress and rushed to get dressed when he saw her. The man was immediately arrested; however, he denied the allegations against him,” she explained.
Heartfelt testimony
At the sentencing, a heartfelt statement from the child was read out.
“Regional Court Prosecutor Nokulunga Ngcobo led the evidence of the child, as well as her mother. Ngcobo also handed in a Victim Impact Statement to the court in aggravation of sentence. In her statement, which was facilitated by Court Preparation Officer Sibusiso Ntombela, the child said that she wishes she could be reborn, because she cannot turn her life around after her traumatic experience. She said that she was deeply hurt by her father’s actions, but did not tell anyone about it, as he had threatened to kill her if she did,” related Mrs Kara.
The NPA welcomed the conviction, saying it hoped that sentences of this nature would be a deterrent to other criminals intent on committing rape.
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