A 66-year-old man who forcefully married and raped a mildly mentally disabled 13-year-old girl in the Eastern Cape has been sentenced to 18 years in prison.

Bheki Nxasana, Mxosheni Sibiya, 67, and Nomvo Nxasana, 68, were convicted in the high court in Gqeberha on charges of trafficking in persons.

“Evidence is that the victim was orphaned and lived with [a relative] in KwaDukuza in KwaZulu-Natal,” regional National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Luxolo Tyali said.

"[The relative] gave her up to her Sunday school teacher who was friends with Nomvo, the sister of the would-be husband. Nomvo took her to her daughter who lived in Mbizana in the Eastern Cape, where Bheki, who worked in Gqeberha, comes from.”

Bheki, with the assistance of Nomvo, initiated lobola negotiations and payments were made in 2016.

“When the victim got to the destination, Bheki took her to his house where he strangled and forcefully had sexual intercourse with her. He told her he was now her husband and had paid lobola for her, so she had to abide by his wishes and commands,” said Tyali.

“The teenager was made to dress in a newly married woman’s (makoti) traditional attire and given a new name for her new role. After a while she was taken to Bheki’s homestead in Mbizana, where she had to live and work as a makoti.”

The girl managed to escape and reported what happened to the police in April 2017.

“During the trial, the accused claimed they were not aware of the girl’s age when they entered her into a customary marriage and were not aware they were acting unlawfully,” said Tyali.

Advocate Zelda Swanepoel, now deputy director of public prosecutions in the Western Cape, argued the trauma had scarred the girl for life. She had lost her parents, freedom, dignity, self-worth, childhood and was destitute.

Bheki Nxasana will serve 18 years for two counts of rape while his accomplices will serve five years.

The court, which handed down sentence this week, also ordered that the trio's names be entered into the National Register for Sex Offenders and National Child Protection Register.

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