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The Tembisa Magistrates’ Court this week sentenced a stepfather to five life terms for raping his stepdaughter, who is severely mentally challenged and fathering her five children between 2003 and 2016.
In a statement on Tuesday, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said it was only in April 2019 that the mother of the complainant was shocked to discover that her husband was the father of all her daughter’s children. The man was charged with five counts of rape.
The complainant was only 11 years old when the man married her mother. NPA Johannesburg regional spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane said:
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She said the police were approached and a case of rape was opened and investigated. DNA samples were taken from the accused, the complainant and all five of her children.
Mjonondwane said the DNA results subsequently confirmed that the accused was in fact the father of all five of the complainant’s children.
She said the complainant was aged 20 when she gave birth to her first child and 33 when she gave birth to her fifth child.
The accused denied ever having sex with the complainant, Mjonondwane said, and also denied she suffered from a severe mental challenges.
She said:
During the trial, the prosecutor from the NPA’s Sexual Offences and Community Affairs unit, Moses Poo, emphasised the devastating effects of rape within the family unit.
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The prosecutor had argued that the accused took advantage of his position in the family and had exploited his vulnerable stepdaughter for his sexual lust for over a decade. He had never considered the effects this had on her, or how it affected her children.
Mjonondwane said the stepfather did not offer any financial support to the complainant or her children, saying it was also revealed in court that two of the children also suffered mental challenges.
She said:
Mjonondwane added that the NPA viewed the sexual attack on vulnerable groups seriously and would continue to plead with the courts to show no mercy to those committing such atrocious and disgusting crimes against vulnerable groups.
