Johannesburg - A 46-year-old man who was knowingly living with HIV was sentenced to life imprisonment and an additional five years by the Verulam Regional Court for the rape and attempted murder of a minor, who is also his girlfriend’s grandchild, in the Umhlasini area back in 2021.
According to KwaZulu-Natal National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Natasha Ramkisson-Kara the child, who was five years old at the time, had gone to live with her grandmother and the man raped her on several occasions while the grandmother was asleep or while she was out doing errands.
The man further threatened to kill the child if she ever told anyone.
He was arrested shortly after the child’s grandmother walked in on him while he was committing the rape.
She also noticed that he had not used protection.
He locked all the doors, took the grandmother’s phone and also denied everything when confronted. While they were locked inside the house the child informed her grandmother that she had been raped several times before.
The grandmother, who was helpless, only reported the incident to the police the following morning. The child’s mother was also contacted and the child was taken to the Phoenix Thuthuzela Care Centre (TCC), where she received the necessary psycho-social services, counselling, and support.
Prosecutor Ishara Sewnarayan led the testimonies of the child, the first report by her grandmother, and the doctor from the TCC, in the regional court.
The prosecutor also handed in a victim impact statement, where the child detailed the devastating effects that the incident has had on her life.
The regional court has further deemed the man unfit to possess a firearm and ordered that his name be entered into the National Register for Sex Offenders.
The NPA has welcomed the prosecution of this man and has also commended the hard work done by the prosecution and police.
“We hope that sentences of this nature will have the necessary deterrent effect,” said Ramkisson-Kara.
IOL