On Tuesday, the Mhala Regional Court sentenced a 31-year-old man to life imprisonment for rape. The accused raped his 7-year-old stepdaughter in 2018.
The Provincial Commissioner of the SAPS in Mpumalanga, Lieutenant General Mondli Zuma has welcomed the hefty sentencing of the rapist.
The court heard how the accused arrived home on that day, 22 February 2018 the victim was asleep when he arrived. He then ordered his other 4-year-old stepdaughter to stand at the door and guard for his wife.
The incident was later uncovered by neighbours when they noticed the girl limping, as she was walking back home from school. They became worried and asked her what was wrong, she then told them what happened. The neighbours informed her mother, however, she dismissed them.
They then to take it upon themselves to report the matter to the police. The suspect was arrested on 23 February 2018, at Kgwaditiba Trust in Green Valley near Bushbuckridge where the incident happened. He (suspect) was granted R1000 bail while the two girls were relocated to a place of safety.
The investigation went unhindered until this year February when the accused was convicted of rape however, sentencing was withheld until Tuesday. When passing sentence, Magistrate Annemarie Theron indicated that the suspect showed no remorse and still denied what he had done to the child.
She also went on to read parts of the social workers’ report, which revealed that the victim now suffers from urinary incontinence as a result of the rape.
Magistrate Theron declared the accused unfit to possess a firearm and she ordered that his name be entered in the national register for sex offenders.
