UNCLE SENTENCED TO LIFE IMPRISONMENT FOR RAPE
The Nelspruit Sexual Offences Court convicted and sentenced a 33-year-old man from Masoyi to life imprisonment for the rape of his 7-year-old niece. The accused and the victim lived together in one house. On the day of the incident in 2019, the victim’s mother went to work and left the victim with the accused, in the evening the victim watched television and went to sleep. While asleep, the accused entered the victim’s room and undressed, and raped her. The accused saw the victim bleeding, cleaned her with a pillowcase, and placed it inside the wardrobe.
The victim’s mother returned from work, prepared dinner and when they finished eating, the mother went to her bedroom to sleep, and the victim started to cry. Upon questioning her, she told her mother that her uncle injured her when she was not around. The mother inspected her and saw the injuries on her private part. The following morning, she reported the ordeal to the family and alerted the police. The accused was arrested, and the state successfully opposed his release on bail until his conviction.
In court, he pleaded not guilty, and Prosecutor Lazarus Rabothata, led evidence of the victim, first report, and their evidence were collaborated by the testimony of the forensic nurse which proved that the victim sustained severe injuries on her private part. Rabothata presented a victim impact statement compiled by court Preparation Officer Zodwa Lekhuleni. In that statement, the victim’s mother stated that the incident hurt the victim, as she is now living in fear. The court sentenced the accused to life imprisonment, the court ordered his name to be entered into the National Register for Sexual Offenders and was also declared unsuitable to work with children.
The Director of Public Prosecutions in Mpumalanga Adv. Nkebe Kanyane, lauded prosecutor Rabothata and the investigating officer for their persistence in securing a conviction and sentence. “This affirms our commitment to curbing the scourge of gender-based violence and sexual offences.”
