A man has been sentenced to life imprisonment for raping a minor girl.
Image: IOL
A nine-year-old girl’s dream of participating in the Reed Dance was shattered in 2022 when she was raped by a 25-year-old man.
The Maphumulo Regional Court has now sentenced the perpetrator to life imprisonment for the crime.
According to Natasha Ramkisson-Kara, spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in KwaZulu-Natal, the perpetrator was living with the victim’s family in the Maphumulo area when the incident occurred.
On the day of the incident, the child’s mother had gone to town, leaving the child in the care of the man and other young children.
The man called the victim into the house, instructed the other children to play outside, and then raped her, telling her to bathe afterwards.
Upon the mother’s return, she noticed the child behaving unusually and that her skirt was wet. When questioned, the minor child confided in her mother about the rape, also revealing that the man had raped her on a previous occasion.
“The man denied the allegations when confronted by the mother,” Ramkisson-Kara said.
She said the case was reported to the police, and the victim received a medico-legal examination and psychosocial support at the Stanger Thuthuzela Care Centre (TCC). The perpetrator was subsequently arrested.
During the trial, the young girl testified that she now struggles to concentrate at school and that the incident has forever shattered her dream of participating in the Reed Dance.
In addition to the life sentence, the court declared the man unfit to possess a firearm and ordered that his name be entered into the National Register for Sex Offenders.
“The NPA welcomes the sentence handed down. The NPA’s fight against the scourge of sexual violence continues to be strengthened by the expansion of the Thuthuzela Care Centre footprint across the country, which has grown from 55 TCCs in 2020/21 to 66 TCCs at present,” Ramkisson-Kara said.
She said these centres provide comprehensive services and support to victims of sexual violence.
nomonde.zondi@inl.co.za