Just News |
The Pretoria North Magistrates’ Court denied bail to a 27-year-old man, who allegedly raped his 2-year-old niece. The man is facing a charge of rape. It is alleged that on 24 September 2022, the complainant visited her mother’s house with two of her children, and around 8:00 p.m. during load-shedding, the mother of the child and her son were washing dishes in the kitchen, the uncle allegedly took the minor child to his room and raped her.
Gauteng NPA spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana said the mother heard the child cry and when she looked for the child, she was found in the uncle’s room. “It is alleged that the uncle threw the child on the ground, and while crying, she showed her mother where it was hurting. The following morning, the child was taken to the hospital where it was confirmed that indeed the child was raped. The mother reported the matter to the police and the uncle was arrested 4 days later, on 29 September 2022”.
In court, he asked to be released on bail due to ill health. However, the Prosecutor, Advocate Tumelo Letaoana told the court that the accused had no exceptional circumstances in his application and that if he gets bail such might undermine the bail system considering, the seriousness of the offence. He further told the court that the accused released on bail might disturb public peace.
Mahanjana said in delivering the judgement, the magistrate agreed with the state that there were no exceptional circumstances that warrant the accused being released on bail. Moreover, should the accused be released on bail, the safety of the victim and her mother might be compromised. The matter is postponed to 13 December 2022, for further investigations.
