Johannesburg,South Africa

Motlhaliemang Alfred Motshwane(36) was sentenced to life imprisonment for raping his 12-year-old stepdaughter by a Schweizer Reneke Regional Court.

The court added another five years for kidnapping,also declared him unfit to possess a fiream and his name will be recorded in the register of sexual offenders.

His conviction came after many years an incident happened,he raped his stepdaughter in December 2017 at Ipelegeng township.

He took his victim along her 3-year old sibling to the kraal outside the township without their mother's consent.

The court heard that upon arrival at the kraal the 3-year-old was asleep and Motshwane took his jersey off and let her sleep on it.He subsequently ordered the 12-year-old to undress,but she refused and attempted to escape.Motshwane caught up with her and moved her to a different location within the kraals and raped her.At the time of the rape,the 3-year-old was awake,she observed her sister's suffering.

The court was told that after he finished raping his victim he allowed her and her sibling to go home,upon their arrival at home she told her grandmother while her younger sibling was crying uncontrollably.

Motshwane denied to raping his stepdauther when he was confronted by the grandmother,but when he was asked to accompany them to hospital for the child's medical checkup,he just fled.

According to National Prosecuting Authority,in aggravation of the sentence,the state prosecutor,Mpho Sephapo urged the court not to deviate from the minimum prescribed sentence of life imprisonment.He argued that the accused abused the trust the victim had in him as a father figure and that his action was not about sex but displaying his power over a defenceless child.In passing sentence,Magistrate Patricia Rangwako agreed with the state and further remarked that the accused showed no remorse for his actions.She further condemned the accused for committing the offence in front of his 3-year-old.

Even the Director of Public Prosecutions in North West,Dr Rachel Makhari praised the police and the prosecution for a collaboration that led to a conviction.