POLOKWANE – A man was recently sentenced to life imprisonment for the rape and 15 years imprisonment for housebreaking with the intent to rape, for crimes committed in 2013.
At the time of the rape. the girl was six years old and the suspect was a very close friend of the family.
According to information, the man, who knew the setup of the house, climbed through the window which, he knew was faulty, in the early hours of the morning.
He closed her mouth and raped her. The child managed to free her mouth and screamed for help.
Her parents came to her rescue and found the suspect in her room but before they could catch him, the man jumped through the window and fled the scene.
The incident was reported to the police and the suspect was arrested at his house shortly after the incident. He appeared before court on charges of rape and housebreaking with the intent to rape and was then released on bail.
The suspect recently appeared again before the Mankweng Regional Court, where he was found guilty.
When the man was found guilty, his attorney argued that the court should not impose life imprisonment, because the child did not have any serious physical injuries and she is coping well after the incident.
State Prosecutor, Chantalle Stevens, apposed the defence’s argument and referred to the social worker’s testimony that the child is not coping nor is she adjusting well after the rape.
A social worker’s testimony “She is not performing in school and she has violent patterns as she no longer feels safe because she was attacked in her own home by someone she trusted.”
He was sentenced to life imprisonment for the rape and 15 years imprisonment for housebreaking with the intent to rape.
Magistrate Jane Ngobeni motivated her decision that the man was a close family friend, someone that the child trusted and he misused that.
She also said the rapist also misused the fact that he knew the setup of the house, which included where the child was sleeping and where her parents’ room was. He also knew about the weakness in the window, which he used to enter the house.
