Rustenburg: A 52-year-old man who claimed an 11-year-old girl wanted to be his second wife was sentenced to life imprisonment for raping her in Kolong near Taung in North West.
Ratiki Radebe was sentenced in the Taung Regional Court on Thursday.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said evidence presented in court revealed that Radebe raped the girl several times between December 2020 and March 2021.
He is said to have worked at a cattle post near the victim’s home, and he would occasionally request to charge his cell phone there.
NPA spokesperson in the North West division, Henry Mamothame, said in a statement: “He would occasionally also give them milk at times. The victim’s ordeal was discovered when she spent a night at the accused’s place. She was later found next to a nearby river by a villager. She reported her ordeal to her mother, and a rape case was reported.”
Mamothame said in mitigation that Radebe had said living that with the knowledge that he took the virginity of the girl was a punishment.
Radebe told the court that the girl had approached him and requested to be his second wife. In aggravation of the sentence, Tecia Khula urged the court not to deviate from the prescribed minimum sentence of life imprisonment.
She argued that the accused took advantage of the trust the family had in him and took advantage of a helpless minor. Magistrate Bhuti Zulu agreed with the State as he found no compelling circumstances to justify a deviation from imposing life imprisonment on Radebe.“
North West Director of Public Prosecutions Dr Rachel Makhari Sekhaolelo lauded Khula and Detective Sergeant Tolamo Ketlhoilwe for their collaboration in achieving a successful conviction.
“The protection of children against such heinous offences is critical, hence a united front is necessary to root out perpetrators and place them in jail where they belong,” she said.
IOL