A 52-year-old male accused was sentenced to life imprisonment on Tuesday, 25 February 2025, by the Groblersdal Regional Court for raping his stepdaughter who was then 11 years old.
The court heard that on 30 October 2019 at about 15:00, a girl victim aged 11, was taken by her 52-year-old father and drove with her to an unknown house in the bush, at Bloempoort Village, in Dennilton policing area. The suspect told the victim that they were going to live in that house from that day. The suspect tied the victim's hands with a cable tie, and thereafter he raped her. He threatened to kill the victim and her mother, if she tells anyone about the incident.
In 2022, the victim confided to the complainant, and told her about the ordeal. Police were notified and a rape case was opened against the suspect.
The case was assigned to Sergeant Thabitha Letladi of Groblersdal Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit for further investigations. The suspect was subsequently arrested and she was found guilty of contravention of provisions of section 3 of act 32 of 2007; rape.
The Provincial Commissioner of the Police in Limpopo, Lieutenant General Thembi Hadebe has welcomed the final decision by court for handing down a hefty sentence of life imprisonment against the rape accused. She further praised the investigating officer and everyone involved in the matter until the sentencing.
