Rustenburg - A 26-year-old man has been sentenced to life imprisonment for raping a four-year-old girl and giving her sweets and money to buy her silence.
The man from Tafelkop was sentenced in the Groblersdal Regional Court for raping the child who was a neighbour.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said that in April 2021, the girl went to the man’s homestead to play, and he grabbed her and took her to his bedroom where he raped her and then gave her sweets and money to silence her.
“During the trial, the state led the oral evidence of the victim, who identified the accused in the absence of DNA evidence.
“In aggravation of the sentence, the state prosecutor Moses Mathebe prayed for a life sentence and further argued that there are no substantial or compelling circumstances presented to the court to deviate from the prescribed minimum sentence,” said NPA spokesperson in the Limpopo division, Mashudu Malabi-Dzhangi.
The court sentenced the man to life imprisonment, declaring him unfit to possess a firearm and unfit to work with children. The court further said that the name of the accused should be recorded in the sexual offenders book.
In a separate case, the Mankweng Regional Court in Limpopo sentenced a man to life imprisonment for the rape of a 13-year-old minor girl.
The NPA said the 47-year-old man from Westenburg, Polokwane, raped his stepdaughter after she returned home from a party.
"In 2016 the victim was returning from a party of a family friend and decided to go home, leaving behind her mother and the accused at the party. Later, the accused followed the victim and raped her at their homestead," Malabi-Dzhangi said.
"The mother arrived after the accused had raped the victim. The victim’s mother met the accused in the passage half naked and started quarrelling with her 13-year-old daughter, accusing her of stealing her husband and (then) assaulting her," she said.
The girl reported the incident to her stepmother in 2019 at the Pretoria police station. The docket was transferred to the Polokwane police station where the accused was arrested.
"During the trial, the accused pleaded not guilty to the offence and the state advocate, Makgomothi Masehela had to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt by linking the accused to the offence.
"The state called the victim’s stepmother to testify in court as a first report witness. There was no DNA evidence to link the accused to the offence. The investigating officer managed to gather all the evidence to link the accused to the offence, despite the victim’s biological mother’s non-cooperation with the investigations," Malabi-Dzhangi said.
She said the victim impact statement was submitted to the court as evidence.
"The statement indicated that the victim had been traumatised and felt burns in her private part when taking baths. The victim could not believe that the accused had done what he did, as she regarded him as her father.
“She felt embarrassed when fellow learners would discuss sex education during life orientation classes, as she knew that they were aware of her rape case. The ordeal impacted her studies negatively as she had to repeat school grades and relocate to another province," Malabi-Dzhangi said.
She said the pre-sentence report was handed up by the state which recommended that the accused must be sentenced to life imprisonment.
"The presiding officer, Fanie Reynolds could not find any substantial or compelling circumstances to deviate from the prescribed minimum sentence and the accused was sentenced to life imprisonment," Malabi-Dzhangi said.
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