Convicted rapist loses appeal after impregnating 10-year-old

THE Western Cape High Court in Cape Town has dismissed an appeal by a 63-year-old man convicted of repeatedly raping his partner's young daughter, leaving his life sentence intact.

- SINENHLANHLA MASILELA

In a judgment delivered on Friday, the court said it found no basis to interfere with either the conviction or the sentence imposed by the Parow Regional Court.

The man had been found guilty of raping the child, who was nine years old at the time of the offence and was sentenced to life imprisonment.

According to the judgment, the abuse began when the complainant was eight years old. The man, who was 60 at the time and living with the child and her mother in Delft, subjected her to repeated sexual assaults over an extended period.

The court heard that the child fell pregnant at the age of 10 and later tested positive for HIV. Medical evidence presented at trial confirmed she was nearly 30 weeks pregnant when examined in May 2023.

DNA analysis confirmed that the man was the biological father of the child she was carrying.