A 54-year-old man has been sentenced to two life terms by the Mount Fletcher regional court for repeatedly raping his biological twin daughters over a period of more than 10 years.
According to the court, the man is also guilty of two charges of sexual assault. He was sentenced to five years in prison for each of those counts.
The man, who cannot be identified to protect the identities of the twins, took advantage of the girls after their mother passed away in 2011.
The girls were left in the care of the father, and one of the twins is mentally disturbed.
Before repeatedly raping one of the girls, the convicted rapist first touched their private areas inappropriately.
Father confessed to the family
In 2019, the man began raping the mentally challenged twin after the other twin found work outside of town.
According to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), the employed twin’s supervisor began to enquire after noticing that she was not psychologically well.
“She divulged that her father had been raping her. The supervisor informed the girls’ older sister, and she confronted their father, but the man denied it,” said Luxolo Tyali, the spokesperson for the NPA in the Eastern Cape.
“However, the twin that was left behind with the father told her older sister that after her twin got employed, the father started raping her.”
Sunday World understands that the twins’ uncle opened a case and the father was arrested after the family called a meeting and he confessed to his crimes.
Accused unable to defend himself
During the trial, he pleaded not guilty and claimed that the disabled child was falsely accusing him because she did not want him to keep her disability grant.
The victims, the twins’ older sister, the uncle, and one of the twins’ supervisors, who had the original report, all testified under the direction of the prosecutor, advocate Thamsanqa Vinindwa.
Additionally, when the accused was cross-examined for the offence, he was unable to defend himself.
The NPA praised the victims’ family for not trying to hide the issue out of fear of embarrassment, as is typically the case, but for reporting it to the authorities as soon as it came to their notice.
