DURBAN - AN eight-year-old girl said she hated her uncle for what he had done to her and was embarrassed by the ordeal. The young girl added that her friends often teased her about being raped.
Earlier in the week, the 28-year-old man was sentenced to life imprisonment for the rape which took place in December 2019.
National Prosecutions Authority spokesperson in KwaZulu-Natal, Natasha Kara, said the girl had been visiting her grandmother's house in Ndwedwe when her uncle took her to a shop in the area.
"He bought her chips and a lollipop and then asked her to go with him to his house. He led her to a river where he raped her. He gave her R2, promising to give her R100 if she did not tell anyone about what he had done. When the girl went back to her grandmother's house, she immediately told her gran what had happened," Kara said.
She added that the uncle was arrested.
Kara said the girl was taken to the Thuthuzela Care Centre, an NPA-led one-stop rape crisis centre, based at the Mahatma Gandhi Hospital where she accessed post trauma services.
In court, Regional Court Prosecutor, Ishara Sewnarain led the testimonies of the child’s mother and aunt, as the grandmother had passed away prior to the trial.
She said Sewnarain also led the contents of the medical report and the evidence of the medical doctor.
"The state also submitted a victim impact statement compiled by the child and facilitated by court preparation officer, Bongiwe Qwabe. In the statement the child said that she was embarrassed by her experience as her peers teased her about it. She also said that she hated her uncle for what he had done," Kara said.
IOL