A Pietermaritzburg man (34) who raped his eight-year-old daughter was told by a judge on Wednesday that he failed to understand what possessed the man to commit such a callous act.
Judge Herbert Msimang imposed a 20-year jail sentence on the man who raped his daughter when he came home after he had been drinking. He was convicted of the rape by the Pietermaritzburg Regional Court in December and referred to the high court for sentence.
State advocate Dorian Paver said that alcohol had played a very minor role in the man’s actions and he asked for a life sentence for the rapist.
However, Msimang said it was impossible to say from the court record that the consumption of alcohol had played a minor role in the commission of the offence. He gave the rapist the benefit of the doubt, saying that there were substantial and compelling circumstances allowing him to depart from the prescribed life sentence.
He said that the only mention of his drinking was the rapist’s mother, who told the trial court: ”He came home when he was under the influence of liquor and he took … [his daughter] with him.”
It had also been argued for the rapist that no violence had been used against her.
Msimang disagreed and said that he may not have assaulted her, but it was clear that some measure of force was used.
The girl had testified in the trial court: ”I cried, then he put his hand over my mouth and said, ‘Shut up, shut up, I’m going to hit you.”’ — Sapa