- A 47-year-old man has been sentenced to life imprisonment for raping his 10-year-old niece.
- The man plead guilty to the charge.
- It emerged in court that the uncle was HIV positive when the rape occurred.
A 47-year-old Mpumalanga man was sentenced to life imprisonment after he was found guilty of raping his 10-year-old niece in 2019.
The child had been playing on the veranda of her home in Kwaggafontein on 21 December 2019 when her uncle called her. He also lived there.
"When she refused, the uncle grabbed her, covered her mouth with a cloth, and dragged her into his room. He tied her hands and feet with a rope and raped her from behind," National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Monica Nyuswa said.
"Her aunt noticed that she was not walking properly, and when asked, she reported the rape ordeal."
The uncle, who cannot be named to protect the child's identity, was arrested and pleaded guilty to the charge but offered a different sequence of events. He claimed that he found his niece playing in his bedroom and told her to undress herself before he raped her.
Nyuswa said a pre-sentencing report, which a probation officer compiled, revealed that the uncle had been on HIV treatment for two years before the rape. He did not wear a condom when he raped the child.
A victim impact report revealed that the young girl was severely impacted and traumatised to the extent that the family had to demolish her uncle's room.
"It further came to light that the uncle tried to coerce the victim's sister and cousin into having sex with him in exchange for money, which they refused. The two were minors at the time."
A medical report, which prosecutor Nicky Coetzee presented during sentencing proceedings, detailed the vaginal injuries the child sustained.
The Kwaggafontein Regional Court sentenced the uncle to life imprisonment and ordered that his name be entered into the National Register for Sex Offenders.
He was also found to be unsuitable to work with children and was declared unfit to possess a firearm.
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