By Jonk wa Mashamba
news@alexreporter.co.za
The Mankweng Regional Court has sentenced a 34-years-old man to life imprisonment for raping a 12-year-old girl.
The name of the accused is concealed to avoid secondary victimization of the victim as the accused is the uncle of the victim.
According to NPA regional spokesperson Mashudu Malabi-Dzhangi, on 2 March 2019, the victim was watching TV with her siblings at their home when the accused called them to his property.
Mashudu said the accused sent other children to a nearby shop and remained with the victim.
“He called her into a shack and undressed her, placed her on the bed before raping her. When the other children came back, he told them that the victim has gone home.
“One of the children entered the shack and saw the victim and the accused instructed her to get under the bed and hide. The other children managed to see the victim.
“He then gave them R20 to go and buy snacks and instructed them not to tell anyone. The children reported to their neighbour whoneighbor the victim’s mother,”Mashudu said.
The accused pleaded not guilty to the charge. The state, represented by Advocate Makgomothi Masehela led the evidence of three witnesses including Dr Alam who witnesses, including injuries that were sustained by the victim and also handed in the J88 form.
The victim’s aunt was not called to testify because she had already indicated that she wanted the matter withdrawn and her claim was rejected by the state.
“The case was challenging in that the victim was 12 years old when she was raped and no DNA results were available at the time of the trial.
“The Victim Impact Report that was prepared with the assistance of the Social Worker from Mankweng Thuthuzela Care Centre, Mmatjatji Ngoasheng, was handed in during sentencing.
“The victim reported that she sustained injuries to her genitalia and felt pain when urinating for almost two weeks after the incident,” said Mashudu.
The girl also developed discharge and foul smell in her genitalia, which led to her seeking medical attention. She felt humiliated and powerless to defend herself from the accused who instructed her not to shout when she felt pain.
She now lives with fear and can no longer play or stay at home alone and can no longer trust men. She prefers to be indoors, her self-esteem has been affected negatively as her mother stopped her from wearing short clothes to avoid the attention of male people.
She also experienced nightmares due to the incident and is always absent-minded.
Mashudu said the girl is unable to talk about the incident with family members as they had forced her to forgive the accused in a family gathering in which elders decided that charges must be dropped.
“Her academic performance has also dropped and repeated grades as she could not concentrate in class.”
The family confirmed that the accused apologized at a gathering and that they agreed that the charges should be dropped, but the state refused in order to protect the minor victim.
They said they felt humiliated by the incident because it negatively affected the whole family.
The Pre-Sentence report for the accused was also handed in and Probation Officer Modjadji Ramoraswi recommended that the accused be sentenced to life imprisonment for rape.
The presiding officer Karin Pillay could not find any compelling circumstances to deviate from the prescribed minimum sentence and sentenced the accused to life imprisonment for rape as prescribed.
The NPA welcomed the sentence and the Director of Public Prosecutions, Advocate Ivy Thenga commended the SAPS, prosecutor for their sterling job.
She hopes that the families will stop intervening in these types of offences as the child victim will never get justice if the case was not reported and further encourage women to be there for their children.
