A 46-year-old man, who knew he was HIV positive when he raped a five-year-old child was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Verulam regional court, KwaZulu Natal this week.
The child, who is his girlfriend’s grandchild was raped in the Umhlasini area in 2021.
KwaZulu-Natal National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Natasha Ramkisson-Kara said the child had gone to live with her grandmother and the man raped her on several occasions while the grandmother was asleep or out doing errands.
The man further threatened to kill the child if she ever told anyone.
He was arrested shortly after the child’s grandmother walked in on him while he was committing the rape. She also noticed that he had not used protection.
He locked all the doors, took the grandmother’s phone and also denied everything when confronted. While they were locked inside the house the child informed her grandmother that she had been raped several times before.
The grandmother only reported the incident to the police the following morning. The child’s mother was also contacted, and the child was taken to the Phoenix Thuthuzela Care Centre (TCC), where she received the necessary psycho-social services, counselling, and support.
Prosecutor Ishara Sewnarayan handed in a victim impact statement, where the child detailed the devastating effects that the incident has had on her life.
The regional court has further deemed the man unfit to possess a firearm and ordered that his name be entered into the National Register for Sex Offenders.
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