A MAN will spend the rest of his life behind bars for raping and impregnating his 14-year-old granddaughter.
The 67-year-old from Madwaleni area in KwaMsane outside Mtubatuba, who is on chronic medication for diabetes, was sentenced to life imprisonment at the Mtubatuba Regional Court on Monday.
The accused was arrested in 2016, after his family had uncovered the sexual abuse to his victim.
However, the case was withdrawn, owing to the lack of evidence but he was re-arrested in June this year, after he was positively linked by the DNA test result. During the mitigation hearing last Friday, defence lawyer, Thulani Madela, told the court that the accused deserved a lesser punishment, because he had shown great remorse.
He said during the first arrest his client had intended to plead guilty, and had done so after the second arrest.
‘He even went as far as making a confession statement at the KwaMsane police station, which clearly indicates that he is willing to take full responsibility for his actions.
‘He is a pensioner and is taking chronic medication. He did not plead guilty because of the overwhelming evidence against him, but to show that he was remorseful and takes full responsibility for his action,’ said Madela.
State Prosecutor, Thabisile Ncanana, told the court that the victim was robbed of her childhood and raped by someone she trusted.
She said the victim had a close relationship with her grandfather and she treated him as a father figure, but the accused broke that trust by raping her.
She told the court the accused deserved the maximum jail sentence to send a clear message to the public that, women and children abuse would not be tolerated in this country.
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