LEANDRA – The Secunda Family Violence, Child Protection And Sexual Offences (FCS) Unit Commander, Capt Lizzy Koekemoer welcomed the hefty sentence passed down by Secunda Regional Court recently, where a 48-year-old man was sentenced to life imprisonment for rape.
The sentencing came as a result of hard work done by Detective Const Nomsa Mavuso from Secunda FCS who was eager to solve a case involving a three-year-old girl from Lebohang, who was raped on 26 January 2016.
The matter was reported to the police by the aunt after she heard the child crying while urinating. When asked what was wrong, the child said she felt pains on her private parts during the process.
The aunt took the child to the local clinic for a medical examination. During the medical examination, the child could not talk to the nurse who was assisting her. The aunt managed to talk to the child until she divulged information as to what had happened to her.
The child informed her aunt that a man known to her, called her to his room, undressed her and raped her. The aunt reported the matter to the police in Leandra where a case docket was opened and registered.
The docket was transferred to Secunda Family Violence, Child Protection And Sexual Offences (FCS) Unit for investigation.
The investigation led to the arrest of the suspect who happened to stay a few houses from the victim’s home after he was pointed out by the victim. Const Mavuso worked tirelessly in collecting evidence against the perpetrator which was presented to the magistrate during court proceedings on the case.
During the investigation, it was proven that the victim’s innocence was exposed to sexual acts while she was three-years-old; the rights of the child were violated and she sustained injuries during the rape.
A social worker from the Department of Social Development at Leandra was allocated to conduct an assessment with the victim which also proved that she doesn’t value the perpetrator as an important person in her life.
After several appearances in the Secunda Regional Court, the magistrate, Mr Graham Cupido, stated that children need to be protected and all members of the community must be trusted by children.
He also realised that after four years since the incident happened, the victim can still identify the perpetrator. This made him to take a decision and sentenced the accused to life imprisonment.
