Pretoria - A 66-year-old father who was arrested for raping his two daughters in Siloam was sentenced to two life imprisonments when he appeared for the last time at the Dzanani Regional Court on Friday.
The father, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the children, started raping the eldest daughter in 2005 when she was still only 12-years-old.
“The father would accompany the daughters to fetch firewood in the nearby mountain where he would rape them. Investigations revealed that he would also send the mother away so that he could rape the children.
“After school he would wait for them at the gate to ensure that they do not have friends,” said the Limpopo South African Police Services (SAPS) in a statement.
The rape ordeal was discovered by a local sangoma whom the victim consulted after experiencing pains. The sangoma, after realising that the girl was sexually abused, recommended that the matter should be reported to the police.
The father threaten the daughters if they reported the matter to the police but on May 2012, seven years after the ordeal, the matter was brought to the attention of the police by concerned residents and subsequently the father was arrested.
Limpopo Provincial Commissioner Lieutenant General Simon Mpembe, who visited the family in June 2012, was pleased after hearing of the hefty sentence. He said justice was served but he wished those who knew about the rape ordeal could have reported the matter earlier.
“When we went there last year I promised the family and the victims that we would do everything in our power to ensure that the father does not come back to haunt the girls again.
“I am happy he is in jail for his sins and this sentence must serve as a warning to other rapists that we mean business and we are geared up to root this stigma out of our province,” Mpembe said. – SAnews.gov.za
