Mpumalanga police hope a lengthy jail sentence imposed on a man who attacked a child at a preschool will serve as a deterrent.
Captain Mpho Nonyane-Mpe said the Boschfontein regional court sentenced the 36-year-old man to 25 years’ direct imprisonment for the rape of a four-year-old girl. The court further ordered that his name be entered into the National Register for Sex Offenders.
The accused was employed as a general worker at a creche in the Nkomazi area.
According to evidence presented before the court, the incident occurred on September 1 2023 at about 3pm, after school hours. The victim and other children were playing on the school premises, as they lived nearby.
The man, whom the children referred to as “uncle”, called the victim into the kitchen and then closed the door.
The victim’s sister became suspicious of the whereabouts of the younger sibling and went to check on her. She looked through the window and saw the man on top of the little girl. The sister was eight years old at the time. She did not report this to anyone but rather took her younger sister home.
We continue to plead with communities to join hands with us and never hide such perpetrators regardless of whether they are family members or not
— Maj-Gen Zeph Mkhwanazi, acting Mpumalanga police commissioner
Later that day, while bathing at home, the victim complained to her mother that she was in pain. When questioned, the victim’s sister informed their mother that she had seen the man raping her younger sister. The victim indicated the same.
The matter was immediately reported to the Kamhlushwa SAPS and the case was assigned to the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) Unit in Tonga.
The victim was taken to the hospital for a medical examination. After an investigation, the perpetrator was arrested.
Acting police commissioner in Mpumalanga, Maj-Gen Zeph Mkhwanazi, said he was hopeful that the sentence would serve as a deterrent.
“This sentencing bears testament that we, as the state, are doing all we can to deal decisively with this vicious type of crime perpetrated against vulnerable victims,” said Mkhwanazi.
“We continue to plead with communities to join hands with us and never hide such perpetrators regardless of whether they are family members or not.”
TimesLIVE
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