Pietermaritzburg High Court upholds life sentence for rapist of eight-year-old
Image: File
The Pietermaritzburg High Court has dismissed an appeal on conviction and life imprisonment sentence for a man who raped an eight-year-old girl multiple times in 2010, gave her R1, and threatened to kill her.
The appeal was heard before Judge Robin Mossop and Judge Mahendra Chetty.
The rapist was described as the brother-in-law of the young girl's mother.
During the trial, the State led evidence and relied on minor children. The Ulundi Regional Court found the evidence of the victim and other minor children corroborative. Hence; the rapist was sentenced to life imprisonment.
The victim told the regional court that she was raped on five separate occasions in 2010. The first rape happened in daylight hours when she visited the homestead of the rapist accompanied by two other young children. She said they went to visit the rapist's child but instead found him.
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She said that at some stage, the man sent one of her companions to the shop to buy a loose cigarette for him. While the other child had gone to the shop, the man told the victim to brush her hair inside the house and he followed her in, locked the door and raped her. When she cried, he threatened to kill her. After that, he gave her R1 to buy ice lollies.
When the companion came back from the shop, she testified that she had slightly pushed the door, but the man told her not to get in. She testified that she saw him on top of his victim naked. This was also corroborated by another child who had peed into the window of the room. Moreover, at night, the victim was raped again.
One child who had peed through the window said he saw the man again. He said he entered the bedroom where all four children slept. He said that despite being dark, he saw him as he was wearing a white T-shirt.
The child also stated that he was the only adult in the house. The victim did not report the incident until a year later, as she was fearful. She and other children were watching a digital versatile disc (DVD) movie where the issue of sex was alluded to.
The children mentioned loudly that the victim knew something about sex, her mother overheard this, and inquired more.
The victim was taken to Dr Salona Prahladh, who stated that the victim had been raped and the last sexual assault was more than a year ago.
The High Court found that the magistrate who sentenced the man did not make any error in finding him guilty.
Judge Mossop said there was no doubt that the magistrate applied the cautionary rule used when dealing with evidence of children.
'The person who she was entitled to believe that she would be safe with, the appellant (rapist), turned out to be a predator intent on abusing her,' he said.
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