KIMBERLEY - A Northern Cape man has been sentenced in the Mothibistad Regional Court to life imprisonment for raping his teenage niece, the Northern Cape South African Police Service (SAPS) said on Sunday.
The effort to fight serious and violent crime against women and children had yielded positive results when a man was sentenced this past week to life imprisonment for raping his 18-year-old niece, the SAPS said in a statement.
"This sentence comes in a period where the country is commemorating the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children."
The 32-year-old man was found guilty and sentenced at Mothibistad Regional Court on Thursday.
The victim visited her uncle in Batlharos and "was requested to sleep over as it was late to take a taxi back home". The man raped the victim twice on the same night and the following morning threatened to kill her if she ever told anyone. The victim told her boyfriend who then reported the matter to the police and the man was arrested, the statement said.
Northern Cape police commissioner Lt-Gen Risimati Peter Shivuri welcomed the sentencing and applauded the investigating officer, Sergeant Kenalemang Victoria Babeile, for a meticulous investigation.
“The sentence will not heal the emotional scars left on the victim, but it will sure send a message to other perpetrators who think they have a right to violate women that the arm of the law is long and will always prevail,” he said.