Six life terms for Free State dad who raped his daughter six times

The Free State high court on Thursday handed six life terms to a 36-year-old man who raped his daughter six times.

The 16-year-old victim was living with the accused, his wife — who is her stepmother — and two siblings.

In May last year, the man, from Clocolan in Bloemfontein, told his wife that his late brother told him in a dream “to get rid of tokoloshe that was inside the victim”.

“The very same night of the alleged dream, the accused raped the victim. The last rape incident took place on July 25 2021,”  said National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Phaladi Shuping. 

Shuping said when the wife tried to stop him, he assaulted her.

The accused’s sister visited the family in July and the wife told her what the husband had done to his daughter. The sister reported his brother to the police and he was arrested.

In aggravation of sentence, prosecutor Moipone Moroka submitted a victim impact report in which the victim thanked her aunt for coming to her rescue. The victim said if it was not for her, she would still be her father’s sex slave.

“What aggravates the matter is that the father raped his own daughter multiple times over three months and this means he had an ample opportunity to reflect on his actions. But he continued betraying the trust his daughter had in him”, Moroka said.

In addition to six life terms, judge Pina Mathebula sentenced the father, who cannot be named to protect the identity of his daughter, to two years for assault.

He ordered the sentences to run concurrently.

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