The Ntuzuma regional court on Tuesday sentenced a 35-year-old man to life imprisonment for the repeated rape of his daughter in Newlands West, KwaZulu-Natal. 

The child was nine when the rape began in March 2020. Her father was  out on parole for a previous rape conviction at the time.

National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Natasha Ramkisson-Kara said the rape happened over three months, whenever they were alone at home. 

The matter came to light when the girl told her grandmother about what her father was doing. The man handed himself over to the police but denied the allegations.

In court, prosecutor Naushaad Harripersadh led the evidence of the child, her grandmother and a doctor from the Thuthuzela Care Centre.

Harripersadh handed in a victim impact statement compiled by the child and facilitated by court preparation officer Senziwe Mthethwa. In her statement, the child indicated she was now scared of men and did not want to be around people.

The court ruled that the rapist's name be included in the national register for sex offenders and the national child protection register of people who are unsuitable to work with children.

TimesLIVE