On Friday, 28 July 2017, the Verulam Regional Court convicted and sentenced a 35 year old man to a total of 25 years’ imprisonment after he was found guilty of raping his niece last year.
In August 2016, the victim who was nine years old, was at Mona area at Ndwedwe when her mother sent her to her uncle’s house to look for her younger brother. While she was at her uncle’s house, she was raped by the uncle and the matter was reported to her mother.
A case of rape was opened at Ndwedwe police station for further investigation. The docket was transferred to KwaDukuza Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences for intensive investigation as it involved a minor child.
Through thorough investigation, the accused was arrested and charged with rape. He appeared in court several times until he was convicted on Friday.
The KwaZulu-Natal Acting Provincial Commissioner, Major General Bheki Langa welcomed the conviction and sentence handed down to the accused. “I condemned the abuse directed to women and children. The accused was expected to protect the victim from being abused in any form by criminals but he was the one who abused her. I further encouraged young children to continue reporting such cases to the police when being abused by their family members or by anyone in the community,” he said.
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