Father gets life for decade-long incest

A FATHER who raped his daughter for a decade from the tender age of nine, and impregnated her, will serve life behind bars after being sentenced in the Pretoria Regional Court.

- CHEVON BOOYSEN

The 64-year-old carried out the incestuous crime while she was in his care during weekends and school holidays, when the victim would visit him.

The rapes continued unabated after the girl was told by her father that the abuse “was normal in households” and swore her to secrecy, not to tell her mother.

Ilitha Labantu's Siyabulela Monakali said it is one of the most disturbing cases of gender-based violence that highlights the systemic failures that continue to expose children to abuse within their own homes.