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Northern Cape claims court victories for rape survivors, but is it enough?
A father gets eight years for raping his four-year-old, and a 43-year-old gets a five year suspended sentence for statutory rape.
Picture – iStock
The Northern Cape National Prosecuting Authority secured three court victories for rape survivors in the province last week.
But did the sentences fit the crimes?
Mothibistad father sentenced
A Mothibistad Regional Court handed down an eight-year jail sentence to a father for raping his minor daughter.
The court heard the 26-year-old parent raped his four-year-old child in 2019.
The child’s mother noticed her toddler’s wounds while bathing her and reported the incident to the police, who later confirmed a rape had taken place.
The father was arrested and sentenced to eight years imprisonment two years later.
ALSO READ: Father arrested for allegedly raping and abusing eight-year-old son
Uncle gets 18 years
On 12 June, Galeshewe Regional Court sentenced a 56-year-old-uncle for raping his 13-year-old niece.
The rape took place in 2018 when the teen was playing with her cousin.
The uncle summoned the children to his shanty, where he proceeded to sexually attack the teen in front of her cousin.
The 13-year-old informed her grandmother, who immediately laid a charge at the police station.
The man was arrested the same day and remained in custody until his sentencing on 12 June 2023 in the Galeshewe Regional Court.
He was sentenced to 18 years direct imprisonment for rape, and his name was registered in the sexual offenders register.
ALSO READ: Man slapped with life imprisonment for raping mentally challenged girl
Suspended sentence for statutory rape
Also on 12 June, the Upington Magistrate’s Court handed down a five-year suspended sentence to 43-year-old Gert Isaks for raping a 12-year-old girl.
Isaks raped the pre-teen on different occasions in Keimoes last year and was arrested on 8 December 2022.
Meanwhile, a 26-year-old alleged housebreaker was refused bail for the attempted rape of a 30-year-old woman while she was sleeping on 22 March 2021.
The woman woke up, and the man, Shaun Klein, fled the house but was later arrested.
Klein was sentenced on 13 June 2023 in the Garies Regional Court to three years for housebreaking, and the attempted rape case was withdrawn.
In Kenhardt, Carmin Prins (21) was found guilty of assaulting a 10-year-old boy by kicking him all over his body.
She was sentenced for assault with the intention to inflict grievous bodily harm, to 18 months imprisonment suspended for five years.
NOW READ: HIV-positive man jailed for repeatedly raping 5-year-old child
