DURBAN Yesterday, Inkanyezi Regional Court convicted and sentenced a 45-year-old father to life imprisonment for raping his 12-year-old daughter. The sentence was handed down after the court heard how he raped his own daughter at Mamba in Mbongolwane.

It is alleged that on 13 October 2018, the accused sent his wife to the shop. When his wife left, he called his daughter, who was playing in the yard with her siblings, to his room. He overpowered, covered her mouth and raped her. He told her to leave the room and instructed her not to tell anyone.

The following day the girl told her mother what had happened while she was in town. Her mother took her to Mbongolwane police station where a case of rape was opened and the docket was transferred to Eshowe Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit for further investigation. Intense investigation by experienced detectives led to a successful conviction and sentence that was handed by Inkanyezi Regional Court.

The KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant General Khombinkosi Jula thanked the detectives at the Eshowe Family Violence, Child Protectio and Sexual Offences Unit for their role in ensuring that the accused is prosecuted. The sentence meted out to him by the court sends a clear message that crimes against our women and children will not be tolerated, he said.

Source: South African Police Service