Man (31) gets life sentence for raping his stepdaughter (6)

On July 16, the Pretoria Magistrate Court sentenced a 31-year-old man to life imprisonment for the rape of his six-year-old stepdaughter.

National Prosecution Service spokeswoman Lumka Mahanjana said the man and the victim’s mother were in a relationship and lived together in Olievenhoutbosch.

She said the incident occurred on August 6, 2022, when the victim was alone at home with the accused while the mother went to Mamelodi.

“It is alleged that the accused called the victim into the hut while she was playing outside and asked her to undress. He then raped her,” she said.

Mahanjana said that after the incident, the accused allegedly told the victim not to tell anyone what had happened.

“Later, when the mother came and bathed the child, the child jumped,” she said.

She said the mother then asked the victim, who then told her that the stepfather had raped her.

Mahanjana said the mother reported the incident to the police and the child was taken to a doctor.

“The defendant was arrested the following day, August 7, and has been in custody since then after the State successfully opposed his application for bail,” she said.

In court, the defendant denied committing the crime and pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.

Mahanjana said the state had presented evidence to prove that the accused had actually committed the crime.

“After being found guilty, the defendant asked the court to deviate from the prescribed minimum sentence because he had been in custody since his arrest,” she said.

Prosecutor Mpho Monyane requested that the court impose a life sentence because the accused had committed the serious offence of rape of a minor.

Monyane said the mother and the victim trusted the accused and he abused their trust.

“The man was housed, clothed and fed by the victim’s mother as he was unemployed and he thanked her for her kindness by raping her child,” Monyane said.

In the victim impact statement prepared by Court Preparation Officer (CPO) Lebogang Lebese, the child showed in the form of a drawing that he or she had been sad since the incident and no longer played outside because of what had happened.

“In delivering the sentence, Judge Johanah Mthimunye said she had not found any substantial and compelling circumstances that would justify the imposition of the mandatory minimum sentence,” Mahanjana said.

The Gauteng Director of Public Prosecutions, Advocate Sibongile Mzinyathi, praised the work of the investigating officer and the prosecutor which led to the conviction and sentencing of the accused.

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