Cape Town - An Eastern Cape man has been sentenced to life imprisonment in the Bhisho High Court for raping his stepdaughter.
According to the provincial spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), Anelisa Ngcakani, said the 27-year-old man had raped his seven-year-old stepdaughter in their home in the Phakamisa Location in the district of Zwelitsha.
According to evidence before the court the incident occurred on November 17, 2020.
The court heard the little girl went to play at her friend’s home but later during the day she ran back home when it started raining.
When the girl got home, she found her stepfather sitting alone on a bed inside the house.
It is the evidence of the young victim that she went to sit on the bed and it was then that her stepfather told her to lay under the blankets. She was obedient and listened to what he told her. It was during thus time that the stepfather crept under the blankets with the girl and raped her.
He told the young girl to never tell anyone about what had transpired and threatened to beat her if she ever told her mother.
The mother of the young girl arrived home later after the incident.
According to the mother, the following morning she noticed her daughter was struggling to walk properly.
She asked the child what was going on and the little girl told her about the rape.
The stepfather was subsequently arrested on December 11, 2020, and charged with the rape of the young child.
The acting director of public prosecutions, Livingstone Sakata, congratulated the investigating officer, Sergeant Mkhuseli Falo, and the state prosecutor advocate Vatiswa Jodwana-Blayi for a sterling job and for managing to secure the sentence of life imprisonment.
IOL