A controversial rape case characterised by tested family loyalty whereby members testified against each other, ended with a member sentenced to life imprisonment. It involved a 15-year-old girl and her 48-year-old stepfather.
The Botshabelo Regional Court finalised the matter on 16 March, sentencing the stepfather to life imprisonment after finding him guilty of raping his stepdaughter.
Phaladi Shuping, provincial spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), said the court found testimonies presented by the victim and her grandmother convincing, as well as forensic evidence presented by a nurse during the trial. However, the girl’s mother stood by her husband, testifying the daughter framed him with rape.
Shuping said in her presentation, the mother had been adamant that her daughter falsely implicated her husband “because she did not behave like a raped person”.
He said the grandmother reported the incident to the police after the victim had told her about the rape on 1 July 2020.
Shuping said in court, the accused’s defence was bare denial.
“He even alleged that the grandmother had influenced the complainant,” he said.
Shuping said Magistrate Spiwo Mazwi sentenced the accused to life imprisonment based on convincing evidence presented in court.
“He also ordered that the accused’s name should be included in the National Register for Sex Offenders,” he said.
The rape incident reportedly happened after the stepfather had dropped off the victim’s mother at work in Bloemfontein. Shuping said, according to the evidence presented in court, the complainant accompanied her stepfather on the trip from Botshabelo to Bloemfontein.
Thereafter, she travelled with the stepfather to fetch his sister in Thaba Nchu.
Shuping said the victim testified that her stepfather drove to a secluded place where he raped her twice.
He said the girl had testified that later in the evening, she asked her stepfather to drop her off at her grandmother’s house.
“Upon arrival, she told the grandmother her stepfather had raped her. The grandmother reported the matter to the police, and the stepfather was arrested,” said Shuping.
