A 58-year-old KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) man has been sentenced to life in prison for raping his six-year-old neighbour.
The man appeared in the Madadeni Regional Court on Monday, where the sentence was handed down.
He raped the little girl in October 2018 in Osizweni, Newcastle.
Sentencing
During court proceedings, State Prosecutor Cindy Alberts handed in a Victim Impact Statement (VIS) compiled by the girl’s mother.
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) regional spokesperson Natasha Ramkisson-Kara said the mother included the grim details of the little girl’s ordeal in the statement.
“She said that the incident had a significant impact on the complainant, affecting her academically, emotionally and physically.
“The accused was sentenced accordingly, and the court found him unsuitable to work with children. In addition, the court ordered that his name be entered into the National Register for Sex Offenders,” Ramkisson-Kara said.
Trial
During the trial, the court heard the man and the little girl were known to each other.
The six-year-old was on her way to play with her friends when a man called her and gave her money to buy cigarettes for him.
Rape
Ramkisson-Kara said the girl returned with the cigarettes, he grabbed her and pulled her into his house where he raped her.
“Thereafter, he threatened her, saying that he would kill her and her family if she told anyone about what had happened.
“The complainant ran home and, fearing what the accused had said, she remained silent about what had happened. A week later, her grandmother noticed that the complainant’s behaviour had changed, as she was irritable and angry,” Ramkisson-Kara said.
Sentence welcomed
The grandmother took the complainant to the Madadeni Thuthuzela Care Centre (TCC), where they confirmed that she had been raped.
Ramkisson-Kara said the girl only later told her grandmother that it was the man who had raped her.
“He was arrested thereafter. The NPA welcomes this successful prosecution. Sentences of this nature demonstrate that we and our partners in the justice cluster are serious about fighting the scourge of sexual offences and gender-based violence,” Ramkisson-Kara said.
Source: bbc.com
