A 37-year-old father who raped and impregnated his 16-year-old daughter has been sentenced to 17 years imprisonment by High Court Judge Justice Salesi Temo.
Following a three-day trial, the man was convicted and found guilty of five counts of rape and two counts of indecent assault by the High Court.
While sentencing the father of three, Justice Temo said the facts of the case was disgusting and he unashamedly raped his daughter between 2008 and 2012 repeatedly.
In her evidence, the victim who gave evidence via skype because she has lost one of her legs had told the court behind closed doors that the incident has affected her relationship with her family, her younger sister is being teased by others and that her education has been affected.
Justice Temo also said that in the last 19 years while being on the bench this is one of the worst forms of parental abuse and that the father who is the pillar of the support ruined his daughter’s life.
For the counts of indecent assault the man has been sentenced to three years each and for the rape charges he has been sentenced to 17 years each.
Judge Temo said for the misery the man has bought onto the victim, he will serve the sentence concurrently.
A non parole period of 16 years has been imposed on the man.
In his mitigation, the man had asked for a lenient sentence based on the prison sentences some people are currently serving for rape.
The man said there are two detainees with him.
He said one of the men who raped his daughter and threatened his wife is serving a four year sentence.
Justice Temo immediately said that the case has to be reviewed and the four year sentence has to be increased.
The convicted father in the current case then continued with his mitigation and said that in another case, a man raped a woman and was handed a 8 year sentence.
In this case, the man only serves his prison sentence in the weekends while he works in the weekdays.
Story by: Praneeta Prakash
