Rapist father who threatened to kill daughter gets life imprisonment

A 50-year-old man has been sentenced to life imprisonment by the Ulundi regional court for the repeated rape of his eight-year-old daughter in 2018 in the Mahlabathini area. 

The man had threatened to kill her if she told anyone.

In her victim impact statement facilitated by court preparation officer Xolani Malindisa, the complainant said she had lost all respect for the accused. She also said that she has to take medication for complications arising from the rape.

According to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), the complainant’s mother had abandoned her, leaving her alone with the accused. NPA spokesperson Natasha Ramkisson-Kara said the complainant was taken to live with the family of a home-based caregiver, but would sometimes visit her father’s family.

Ramkisson-Kara said during these times, the accused would come home during the night, sometimes drunk, and demand that the girl sleep with him. He would then rape her during the night and in the morning.

“He threatened to kill her if she told anyone what was going on. The incidents came to light when the caregiver noticed the complainant simulating a sexual act while playing with other children. When the caregiver asked the complainant where she had seen such an act, the complainant said that her father had done such things to her. The matter was then reported to the police, and the accused was arrested,” Ramkisson-Kara said.

Ramkisson-Kara said a further court order was that the complainant or her family are to be invited to make representations at the stage when the accused becomes eligible for parole.

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