Tebogo Msimanga |
The Secunda Regional Court sentenced on Monday sentenced an eighty-one-year-old man from Balfour to fifteen years direct imprisonment for rape and indecent assault of a six-year-old minor girl in 2004.
In that year, the victim was attending a nursery school owned by the accused and his wife in Balfour.
Director of Public Prosecuting (DPP) Spokesperson in Mpumalanga Monica Nyuswa said on the day of the incident, the accused persuaded the minor girl to accompany him into a bedroom and promised to give her a packet of peanuts. When she entered the room, he locked the victim inside, tied her up, undressed her clothes and raped her.
“Though the matter was reported nine years later, the state-led evidence of the victim who testified that the accused threatened to rape her again should she report the rape ordeal to anyone. The victim’s mother testified from what she observed from the victim.”
Nyuswa added that a forensic assessment report was also presented including the J88 report which proved that the victim was indeed sexually assaulted and the accused was found guilty as charged.
“During sentencing, the court found that there were compelling circumstances to deviate from the sentence of life, it took into consideration the accused’s age and sentenced him accordingly.”
The Acting Director of Public Prosecutions in Mpumalanga Adv Sonja Ntuli applauded the collaborated efforts by the state prosecutor, Tracy Keen Horack and the police on a successful prosecution.
