Rapist remains in custody
Mother of child that was raped confirmed that it was the second time
MALALANE – A 34-year-old man appeared in the Malalane Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday on charges of raping his 10-year-old stepdaughter.
Magistrate Jacob Mamabolo postponed the case to September 25 for judgement in the bail application. The stepfather was retained in custody.
The mother of the two girls who were allegedly raped by their stepfather stated her case to Corridor Gazette last week. Neither parent may be named to protect the identity of the girls.
The mother claimed to the newspaper he had confessed to her that he had also raped her elder daughter last year. She was 12 at the time. No charges were laid.
In an interview with the newspaper, the mother of the victim said that this is the second time that one of her daughters had been raped by her husband. In November 2018 she approached the girls’ school for help. They phoned Amanda de Swardt, a trauma councillor in Malalane.
ALSO READ: SANParks strike successfully averted
The 12-year-old was then taken to Shongwe Hospital. When they arrived, the forensic doctor was not available and a male doctor examined the girl. His report was sent to De Swardt and it stated that no evidence of rape was found. A case was not opened.
In August this year they went on vacation with the children to their holiday home in Durban. A fight broke out between her and the accused and he allegedly started to strangle the elder daughter. The mother phoned a family member in Durban and the SAPS were called. The accused left the house.
She said she had asked their daughters if the accused had been molesting them. The youngest daughter confirmed that he had. The mother phoned her lawyer and was advised not to open a case in Durban, but to get the husband to return to Malalane with her so she could open a case here. She took the advice. She added that he would flee back to Egypt, as he had been in South Africa illegally at the time.
Yet it was their grandmother who took the girls to the police to open a rape case on August 29. De Swardt assisted. The mother then took the 10-year-old to be examined at Shongwe Hospital. The results confirmed that she had been sodomised.
The couple has been married since November 2017. According to her affidavit, which was read out in court on Wednesday, the accused allegedly threatened to kill the mother and her children on numerous occasions.
Women from all over the Onderberg joined in a protest march to court against him being granted bail.
The courtroom erupted in applause at the news and the protesters started singing outside.
