The East London High Court has sentenced a 19-year-old rapist uncle to 18 years imprisonment for raping his underage niece repeatedly.
The teen would put an axe next to the bed when he raped his niece, who was nine years old at the time.
However, the court said there was no evidence that the axe was used in any manner that further traumatized the victim.
In issuing the sentence, acting Judge (AJ) Babalo Metu said there was a prevalence of rape of children.
“In as much as the age gap between the accused and the victim is about nine years, the accused, on his version, was looking after his sickly mother, who was bedridden, and also the complainant (niece). The accused is a maternal uncle to the victim,” Metu said.
The defence had argued that evidence from the nurse, Pumla Tande, showing a wide hymenal orifice was merely suggestive of grooming rather than vaginal penetration.
However, according to the State, the legal requirement for penetration was met and the accused showed no remorse.
Additionally, the court said the report by a social worker, practitioner Nomonde Precious Stamper, depicted the accused as a youngster who did not display any behavioural problems before the rape incidents took place.
Stamper recommended direct imprisonment, considering that the accused was in denial.
“According to Stamper, the accused can benefit from the various Rehabilitation and Victim/Offender Dialogue Programmes offered at the Correctional Centres,” Metu added.
He quoted the report of clinical psychologist Pumza Sakasa, who said the victim reached her developmental milestones at expected times as a child. The report further said the victim had age-appropriate friends and could assist with certain household tasks at home.
Sakasa recorded that after the rape incidents, the victim often displayed a sad and depressed mood mainly when the subject of the incidents was brought up.
“She becomes tearful or cries without much provocation. She easily gets startled and frightened, such that she does not like people talking to her in a loud voice,” the report said.
It further said the victim initially had a poor appetite, which resulted in weight loss.
However, recently, she has been eating too much, as if she was not fully aware of the act and was just absent-mindedly engaging with the process.
The report added that she had developed trust issues and got flustered when approached by male figures, though she eventually could contain herself.
The court ordered that the accused’s details be included in the National Register for Sexual Offenders, established under Section 42(1) of the Criminal Law Sexual Offences and Related Matters Amendment Act 32 of 2007.
