Durban - Repeatedly raped by her father, a 19-year-old woman told the Verulam Regional Court that the man who was supposed to have been her protector took away her virginity and destroyed her future.
The 54-year-old father barely blinked on Tuesday when magistrate Jenny Pillay sentenced him to life imprisonment. However, his attorney said he would apply for leave to appeal his rape conviction and sentence.
The father was initially charged with raping his daughter when she was five years old, but the case was withdrawn because there was no one available to bring her to court.
Her mother died when she was 18 months old and she was raised by her father and his family.
Twelve years after the initial charge, she reported to police that her father had raped her on various occasions between 2011 to 2014.
Regional court prosecutor Kaystree Ramsamujh told the court the girl was between the ages of 14 and 17 at that time, and had told witnesses that “she was tired of being her father’s sex slave”.
According to her victim impact statement, read out to the court, the young woman had considered suicide and was very embarrassed about being raped.
Her school work was affected, resulting in her repeating grades. She eventually left school, saying it was a waste of time because she could not concentrate.
“I don’t like to be alone because of what happened. How could someone who brought me into this world do this to me? This wound will never heal. He destroyed my future,” she said.
She had been living with her cousin, but relocated, saying she was afraid her father would find her, rape her again and possibly kill her.
She had told a court appointed psychologist that her father had threatened to kill her if she had told anyone.
During the trial, the father claimed the rape allegation was a plan hatched by his family and his ex-girlfriend, but the magistrate dismissed this, saying there was no bias or malice on their part.
During arguments in mitigation and aggravation of sentence, Ramsamujh had referred to the initial rape charge when the young woman was five.
“While this case was withdrawn, the aggravating factor is that the father was found guilty of the same offence against the same victim. She was a virgin before her father raped her. I ask the court to take into account the physical pain and psychological scars she would no doubt take through her life. The psychologist’s report states she still suffers from anxiety to this day,” Ramsamujh argued.
“He abused his daughter’s trust and that of his family. He had pleaded not guilty and put his daughter through the court process, further victimising her.
“He showed not one iota of remorse and accused her and his family of fabricating her evidence,” she said.
The State called for a life sentence, while the defence argued the man was the father of four minor children, their sole provider, and unlikely to recommit such an offence.
In handing down the life sentence, the magistrate said she had no confidence that the father was capable of rehabilitation.
“The court finds it relevant that you were arrested and charged for a similar offence (against your daughter) and the crime was not proved. One would expect any reasonable person to steer clear of that type of offence,” said Pillay.
She also said the evidence had shown the father had such a strong psychological hold on the family that he continued with the abuse. The magistrate agreed the father showed no signs of remorse.
“She (your daughter) will never recover psychologically from the rape by her father,” she said.
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