Nelspruit - A 20-year-old man accused of raping his nine-year-old niece appeared in the Nelspruit Regional Court on Tuesday.
Magistrate Rudolf Smith postponed the matter to February 3 for judgment, a Sapa correspondent reported.
The man, from Schoemansdal, was arrested in 2012 after the girl's family reported the rape to police.
Aggrey Machubeni, for the accused, told the court that there was no evidence against his client.
The man, whose name is being withheld to protect the child's identity, has pleaded not guilty.
“There is nothing from a medical doctor, except word from the victim. There are many politics taking place in many families and why did the child break the news only after two years?” Machubeni said.
He told the court his client had instructed him to state that no rape occurred.
Prosecutor Elise du Plessis said that, according to the girl's evidence, she complained to her grandmother about pains in her private parts in 2010.
“The grandmother checked her and after discovering she had a rash and her private parts were sore, she applied Vaseline,” said Du Plessis.
“Two years later, the girl complained again and after her mother questioned her, she admitted she had been raped by the accused.”
She said the victim testified that she had not disclosed the ordeal because the man threatened her life.
“The State has supplied enough evidence that the girl was indeed raped. In his evidence, the accused blamed the family, saying they did not want him at the house,” Du Plessis said.
“He was chased away after the case was opened.”
She said there was no reason mentioned in court as to why the family wanted to accuse him of such a serious crime.
Sapa