Life imprisonment for man who raped girl aged five

The Benoni regional court on Friday sentenced a 36-year-old man from Etwatwa to life imprisonment for the rape of a five-year-old girl in 2019 .  

The magistrate also ordered that the man’s name be added to the National Register for Sexual Offenders.  

The man, who cannot be named to protect the victim's identity, was staying in the same yard as the victim at a shack behind her house after the mother of the minor offered him a place to stay when he was homeless, National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana said. 

On June 2 2019, when the mother was not at home, the man called the girl and her six-year-old cousin to his shack.  

‘When the two minors got to the shack, he asked them to lie on top of the bed, but the six-year-old refused and stood at the door. The man then proceeded to undress and rape the five-year-old in the presence of her cousin,” Mahanjana said. 

The cousin reported the incident when the mother arrived home and the man was arrested on July 6 2019. He has been in custody since.   

The man pleaded not guilty to the charge. 

After his conviction, the man asked the court to deviate from imposing the prescribed minimum sentence of life, because he has two children aged 16 and 18 that he needs to take care of.  

Prosecutor Refiloe Neluonde read to the court the victim impact statement by a social worker stating the child had suffered as a result of the rape.  

The report said the mother had to remove the shack because it reminded the child of what had happened and made her cry. The mother said the man had taken advantage of her kindness as she had taken him in when he was homeless.   

Magistrate Bettina Pulane Maredi agreed with the state that the man committed a serious offence and found no substantial and compelling circumstances to deviate from the minimum prescribed sentence of life.  

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