A man who raped his daughter was sentenced to 26 years in prison by the Grahamstown Regional Court last week.
A man who raped his daughter was sentenced to 26 years in prison by the Grahamstown Regional Court last week.
The 47-year-old father of four maintained his innocence throughout, as the court heard how he had raped his daughter, just 13 years old at the time, on three different occasions between May and October 2009. The first time was in their rented RDP house in Tantyi Location while the girl's mother was in hospital.
The girl was at home with her father and her 4-year-old sister on the night of the incident. She said her father had ordered her to come and sleep in the bed with him, raped her and threatened to kill her if she told anyone. The second time, he ordered her to take some items into a separate building where the family stored their excess furniture. He followed her and raped her, afterwards ordering her to go and wash herself.
The third time, the girl and her father had been on their way to Sevenfountains, when he took her to the Makana Botanical Gardens and raped her there. The man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the child, denied all the charges against him.
In sentencing the man to 26 years in prison, Magistrate Samson Dunywa said he had breached his daughter's trust. He ordered his name be registered in the National Register for Sexual Offences against children and declared him unfit to possess a firearm. The man had four previous convictions, varying from assault with intent to commit grievous bodily harm to crimen injuria.
