Your story, My daughter is irresistible, in Sowetan of October 29 refers. I read with shock and disgust about the father who raped his own daughter because she was "irresistible".

Your story, My daughter is irresistible, in Sowetan of October 29 refers. I read with shock and disgust about the father who raped his own daughter because she was "irresistible".

I was even more appalled that it was not the first time that she had suffered in this manner at the hands of a man who should protect her.

While this case might be one of many that occur daily, the fact that police allowed a reconciliatory process the first time she was raped should be condemned with contempt.

Such acts by the police fly in the face of the government's efforts to build a reputable and caring police service whose primary mandate is to protect law-abiding citizens.

This incident also highlights the uneven power relations that continue in society, where mothers are suppressed into silence because of economic dependency on abusive husbands.

Society has a collective responsibility to expose and report women and children abuse regardless of our relationship with the perpetrators.

The new Children's Act empowers us to report these cases irrespective of the family's resolve. Provincial police management must investigate the officers who handled the case when it was first reported, and charge them as accessories to a heinous crime. They have no place in the police service.

Mpho Gabashane,

Nelspruit