SECUNDA – Two brothers who have been convicted of raping their seven-year-old half sister back in 2011, have asked the court last week not to send them to jail.
The young men (now aged 24 and 23) appeared before regional magistrate Graham Cupido on Thursday, 8 October.
They were 17 and 16 years old respectively when they raped their sister in eMbalenhle.
The boys were supposed to look after their sibling, as her mother had to go to Pretoria and their father was working a new shift.
The older brother was at the shop when the younger brother raped the little girl, but when he returned and saw what was happening, he also raped the child.
After the girl told her mother what had happened, the mother relocated with her to another town. The boys remained with their father.
The older brother dropped out of high school and is self-employed. He has a five-year-old daughter.
The younger brother passed matric and several other courses after school. He does odd jobs to support his father.
They were both found guilty on two counts of rape each and appeared in court on Thursday to present mitigating circumstances before being sentenced.
Both men said they were young when they committed the crime and asked for a suspended sentence because they are looking after their ailing father.
The youngest son said he is not a criminal.
The father also took the stand to plead on behalf of his sons. “Your honour, they are good boys,” he cried.
He said he did try to talk to his daughter about the incident, but she kept quiet and her mother intervened.
State Advocate Tshepo Khunwana asked the men if they ever bothered to apologise to their sister for what they did to her.
“You were placed in a position of trust and you violated it. You still do not realise what you have done.”
Adv Khunwana asked the older brother how he would feel if someone raped his child and if he would be comfortable if his child’s rapist was merely given a suspended sentence.
