Man sentenced to life imprisonment for raping minor in Ekuvukeni, KZN

The Ezakheni Regional Court has sentenced a 43-year-old man to double life imprisonment for the rape of two underage girls in the Ekuvukeni region in 2019.

National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokeswoman Natasha Ramkisson-Kara said the man was the uncle of one of the girls and was dating the mother of the second girl.

“The girls were seven and eight years old at the time. On the day of the incident, the girls were playing together in one of their houses when the lights went out. The accused went to them and showed them pornographic videos on his phone. He then asked them to go to the other girl’s house (his girlfriend’s house) where he raped them in front of the others. He then threatened them not to tell anyone what had happened,” she said.

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Ramkisson-Kara added that one of the girls eventually confided in her aunt, who then contacted the other girl’s family.

“The families opened a case at the police station and the accused surrendered a few days later. In the State’s prosecution, prosecutor Cwayita Ngcongo cited the girls’ statements, the initial report and the J88 forms containing the medical evidence. In their statements, both girls told the court that they were afraid of the accused and had trusted him because they knew him.

“Because the defendant was sentenced to life imprisonment for each of the rapes, he will effectively be serving a life sentence as the sentences will be served concurrently. In addition to the sentence, he was declared unfit to possess a firearm and the court ordered that his name be placed on the National Sex Offender Registry,” she said.

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She added that the NPA welcomes the successful conclusion of this matter and commends the work of the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the police.

“Our mission is to fight for justice on behalf of the victims of crime. Children are particularly at risk,” she said.