Two terms of life imprisonment were recently handed down to a man who was found guilty of raping his stepdaughters.

The NPA’s regional spokesperson, Natasha Ramkisson-Kara, says the 36-year-old man was sentenced in the Durban Regional Court for the repeated rape of his two stepdaughters, who were five and nine at the time.

“The offences took place between 2020 and 2021 in the Emanyaleni area near Chatsworth. The two girls lived in the same house with their mother, other siblings, and their stepfather. Their mother would often leave them alone with the man, as she worked an early shift. He would call them into his room/ bed under the guise of allowing them to play games on his cellphone.

“That is when he raped them and would threaten to hurt or kill them if they told anyone. They eventually confided in their older sister, who did not initially tell their mother. Then, when the man asked their older sister to play games on his phone, she realised what his intentions were, refused him and told her mother what was going on,” explains Ramkisson-Kara.

The police were alerted and the accused was arrested. The children were taken to the RK Khan Thuthuzela Care Centre, where they received further assistance.

Court proceedings

“The state, represented by regional court prosecutor Lungile Shandu, led the evidence of both the girls, who testified via an intermediary. Shandu also submitted victim impact statements compiled by one of the girls, and their mother, and facilitated by court preparation officer Prudence Geraud.

“The girl said that before the incident, they were a happy family, but things have since changed. She said that she wants the accused to be punished because he did something very bad to her and she will not forgive him. Their mother said that she felt responsible for what happened because she had brought the man into her children’s lives.”

The man was sentenced to two terms of life imprisonment and the court deemed him unfit to possess a firearm.

The court also ruled that he is not permitted to work with children and that his name is to be entered into the National Register for Sex Offenders.

“The National Prosecuting Authority welcomes this sentence, and we hope that would-be offenders take note of the severity of the consequences of such offences. We commend the work done by the prosecution and [the] investigation team,” concludes Ramkisson-Kara.