AN alcoholic who claimed Satan forced him to rape his 11-year-old niece over two years was handed a life sentence on Monday. The 57-year-old man from Mandulo village south of Malelane in Mpumalanga pleaded guilty to rape in the Nelspruit circuit of the Pretoria High Court. He admitted he raped her three times in 1998 and 1999 but said Satan took control of his mind when drank too much homemade beer. The girl, who may never be able to bear children, stopped going to school after the case was first reported to police two years ago because her schoolmates teased her. The child was last raped on January 23, 1999 and her mother reported the case to police two days later, when she noticed the child walking with difficulty when she went to collect water from a river. Judge Spoelstra said the man could be released from prison at the age of 82 when he should no longer be able to have sex. – African Eye News Service