A KZN man has been sentenced to life in prison for child-bride rape.
The 60-year-old man from Greytown in KwaZulu-Natal had been convicted for the abduction and repeated rape of a 17 year-old girl, who had been forced by her family to marry him.
The convict raped the girl between February to July 2019. According to the KZN National Prosecuting Authority, prior to the rape, the man had asked the girl’s relatives to organise him a wife even though he was already married to two wives.
“The man knew the victim’s relatives as they attended the same church. The victim was 17 years old at the time and lived with her relatives as she is an orphan. The victim’s aunt chose her to be the bride, and after much coercion from her family, the victim agreed to marry the man.
“When she met him and realised his age, she changed her mind but he and her family refused to accept her rejection of the accused,” said NPA regional spokesperson Natasha Ramkisson-Kara.
Ramkisson-Kara said the man then arranged for her family to take her to a room he rented in Greytown where he attempted to rape her.
Undeterred, the man put the girl in his car and drove to a bushy area outside Greytown where he tried again to rape her, but she fought him off.
“She went back home and reported the matter but nothing was done instead the family proceeded with pre-marital rituals, including the payment of lobola, fully aware that the complainant was resisting. The victim was then kidnapped by the accused and taken to his home in Ntembisweni, where she was held captive and repeatedly raped by him.
“She was rescued 10 days later when social workers received information about a young girl continuously crying in the accused’s home. With the assistance of the police, the social workers infiltrated the house and found the victim handcuffed to a metal leg of a table. She immediately reported the kidnapping and rape.”
In court, the convict raised the traditional practice of ukuthwala as his defence but the court rejected his argument and convicted him accordingly.
Regional court prosecutor Premie Naidoo, who led the evidence of the victim, submitted a Victim Impact Statement wherein the victim said: “Since this incident, I isolate myself because I hurt so much emotionally. He has destroyed my life and my future. I have tried suicide a few times but was saved. I just wish the court can do justice for me as I became a laughingstock after being kidnapped and raped.”
The man was sentenced to life imprisonment for rape, 12 years for the two counts of sexual assault and five years for kidnapping.
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