Man sentenced to 2 life terms for raping stepdaughter repeatedly

The Naphuno Regional Court in Tzaneen found a 45-year-old man guilty of repeatedly raping his 11-year-old stepdaughter. To protect the victim, the man cannot be named. Instead, he was given two life sentences in prison.

"The court heard that the victim's mother knew that her husband had raped her daughter twice. "The first incident happened on March 10, 2017, when the victim was getting ready to go to school and her stepfather called her to his room," said Limpopo police spokesman Colonel Malesela Ledwaba.

"The accused sexually assaulted the child against her will and paid her to keep quiet."

Ledwaba says that on March 21, 2017, the child was called to her stepfather's room in Mhangweni Village in the Maake police district. He hit her again after that.

"After that, the victim told her neighbors about what happened, and they told her mother, who told the police station in the area.

Ledwaba says that a thorough investigation led to the accused man's arrest on October 9, 2017. He was held in police custody until his sentencing on Tuesday.

Lieutenant General Thembi Hadebe, who is in charge of police in the province of Limpopo, is happy with the decision.

Hadebe said, "This punishment will send a clear message to people who hurt women that the police will not let up in their investigation."

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in Limpopo was happy with how harshly the Mankweng Regional Court punished a stepfather who sexually abused his stepdaughter, the other child, who was four years old, and the mother of the children earlier this year.

Mashudu Malabi-Dzhangi, who was a spokeswoman for the NPA in Limpopo at the time, said that the 43-year-old man, whose name cannot be used to protect the victims, was given nine life sentences.