DURBAN - A 35-year-old Newlands West father was sentenced to life in prison by the Ntuzuma Regional Court for raping his daughter who was nine years old at the time.
In a statement on Tuesday, provincial National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Natasha Kara, said the NPA welcomed this successful prosecution.
Kara said the accused repeatedly raped his biological daughter in March 2020 in the Newlands West area.
“The child was nine years old at the time and the man was out on parole for a previous rape conviction,” she said.
Kara said the accused raped the child over a three-month period whenever they were alone at home.
“He would take her into his room or go into her room and rape her, he would even make her bath with him,” she said.
The child eventually told her grandmother what her father was doing to her, said Kara, and she was taken to the Phoenix Thuthuzela Care Centre (TCC), where she received the necessary psychosocial services, counselling and support.
According to the NPA, the man handed himself over to the police but denied the allegations.
During the court case, State advocate Naushaad Harripersadh, led the evidence of the child, her grandmother and the doctor from the TCC.
Harripersadh also handed in a Victim Impact Statement compiled by the child and facilitated by Court Preparation Officer Senziwe Mthethwa.
Kara said the child indicated in her statement that she was now scared of men and did not want to be around people. She also said that the incident has affected her performance at school.
“She said that her father must stay in jail and not be allowed to come back home,” she said.
Kara said the accused was sentenced accordingly and the court deemed him unfit to possess a firearm.
The court further ordered that his name is included in the National Register for Sex Offenders and the National Child Protection Register of people who are unsuitable to work with children, she said.
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