WARNING: GRAPHIC DETAILS MAY OFFEND SENSITIVE READERS
In 2008, an 11-year-old girl moved into a new home with her mother and stepfather in Queenstown. It was the beginning of a decade of sexual assault…
According to the Grahamstown High Court, the stepfather, who is now 53-years-old began assaulting the girl by penetrating her with his fingers. This escalated six years later when he discovered she had a boyfriend.
“This angered him so much that he took the girl to a clinic for family planning and then started raping her a week later while the mother was at church,” according to a statement by the NPA.
“The rapes then snowballed. During the 2015 December holidays, when the mother left to visit family in Port Elizabeth, he raped her until her mother returned in January 2016. He continued to rape her regularly until 2018 when the victim moved out of the family home to undergo training at a police training college. The rapes occurred on a few occasions when she visited.”
Throughout this time, the stepfather knew that he was HIV positive.
Beaten in the forest
When the victim went home in September 2018, the stepfather was so angered by a photograph of the woman’s boyfriend that he found on her phone that he dragged her to a nearby forest. He brutally assaulted her with his fists and a piece of wood. The assaults continued later in the day, resulting in the victim sustaining a fractured wrist and bruising over her lower body.
When the victim returned to the training college, she broke her silence and told a police officer about the rapes and assaults.
“He abused and destroyed her trust”
The victim’s lawyer, Advocate Sakhumzi Mtsila, argued for life imprisonment as he said the stepfather had abused his position of trust.
“He was the stepfather of the complainant with whom he created a good relationship and distanced her from her mother, therefore the complainant trusted him and he abused and destroyed that trust. The complainant regarded him as her own father. The accused abused the complainant for 10 years,” he said.
Life sentence
The court sentenced the stepfather to life imprisonment for rape, 10 years imprisonment for attempted murder as he raped the girl while he knew that he was HIV positive, five-years imprisonment for assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm, and 12-months for assault. His application for leave to appeal the sentence of life imprisonment was refused.
“The NPA welcomes this sentence,” said a statement from NPA regional spokesperson, Anelisa Ngcakani.
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| SAPS Emergency Services | 10111 |
| Toll-free Crime Stop number | 086 00 10111 |
| GBV Command Centre | Contact the 24-hour Gender Based Violence Command Centre toll-free number 0800 428 428 to report abuse |
| STOP Gender Violence Helpline | Tel: 0800 150 150/ *120*7867# |
| South African Police Service | Report all cases of rape, sexual assault or any form of violence to a local police station or call the toll-free Crime Stop number: 086 00 10111 |
| Legal Aid South Africa | Call the toll-free Legal Aid Advice Line 0800110 110 for free legal aid if you cannot afford one |
| Commission for Gender Equality | Report Gender Discrimination and Abuse: 0800 007 709 |
| South African Human Rights Commission | Call 011 877 3600 to lodge a complaint about human rights violations. |
| Domestic violence Helpline | Stop Women Abuse: 0800 150 150 |
| AIDS Helpline | 0800 012 322 |
| The Warrior Project | FREE legal helpline for victims of domestic abuse: 0860 333 353 |
| People Opposed to Woman Abuse(Powa) | http://www.powa.co.za, Tel: 011 642 4345 |
| Child Welfare South Africa | http://childwelfaresa.org.za/, Tel: 074 080 8315 |
| Childline South Africa | http://www.childlinesa.org.za/, Tel: 0800 055 555 |
| Families South Africa (Famsa) | http://www.famsaorg.mzansiitsolutions.co.za/, Tel: 011 975 7106/7 |
| Tears Foundation | http://www.tears.co.za/, Free SMS helpline: *134*7355#, Tel: 010 590 5920 |
| The Trauma Centre | http://www.trauma.org.za/, Tel: 021 465 7373 |
| Thuthuzela Care Centres | http://isssasa.org.za/ |
