A MAN SENTENCED TO LIFE IMPRISONMENT FOR RAPE OF STEPDAUGHTER
The Pretoria Magistrates’ Court sentenced a 31-year-old man to life imprisonment for the rape of his six-year-old stepdaughter. The mother of the victim and the man were in a love relationship and were staying together at her house in Olievenhoutbosch. On 06 August 2022, the mother left the victim in the care of the man while she went to Mamelodi. While the child was playing outside the man called her inside the shack where he instructed her to undress herself, he also undressed himself and proceeded to rape the child. After, he told her not to tell anyone about what had happened. Later when the mother arrived and was bathing the child, the child jumped. When the mother enquired about what happened. The child disclosed to the mother about the incident. The following morning the mother reported the matter to the police and the child was taken to the doctor. The man was arrested on 07 August 2022 and has been in custody since the state successfully opposed his bail application.
In court, he pleaded not guilty to the charges and denied raping the child. However, the state adduced evidence which proved that indeed the man committed the offence. After his conviction during the sentencing proceedings, the man asked the court to deviate from imposing the prescribed minimum sentence because he had been in custody since his arrest. Therefore, the court should consider the period he spent in custody when imposing a sentence. In aggravation, the Prosecutor Mpho Monyane asked the court to impose a sentence of life imprisonment because the man committed a serious offence of raping a minor child. The man was accommodated, clothed, and fed by the mother of the victim since he was unemployed, and he thanked her for her kindness by raping her child. The mother and the child trusted him, and he betrayed their trust.
In the Victim Impact Statement (VIS) facilitated by the Court Preparation Officer (CPO) Lebogang Lebese, the child demonstrated in a form of a drawing that since the incident she is sad and no longer goes outside to play because of what had happened. When handing down the sentence, Magistrate Johanah Mthimunye, agreed with the state and said she found no substantial and compelling circumstances to deviate from imposing the prescribed minimum sentence. Therefore, the sentence given was appropriate.
The Director of Public Prosecutions Advocate Sibongile Mzinyathi welcomes the sentences and applauds the work of the investigating officer and prosecutor. He also hopes that the sentence will serve as a deterrent to those who might commit such offences and that this sentence will also provide some justice and closure to the victim and her family.
