By Bahle Gama
A 50-year-old man has been sentenced to six years in prison for sexually violating his teenage daughter.
The convict Doctor Silindza of the Macobolwane area will also have his particulars included in the National Register of Sex Offenders.
The incident reportedly occurred on November 21, 2022, at Macobolwane, where Silindza sexually violated the victim who was 19 years old at the time.
He was charged with contravening Section 5 (1) as read with 5 (2) of the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Act 15 of 2018. Giving evidence before Magistrate Zulu, the victim told the court that her father had sexually violated her on different occasions whereby he would strip her naked and ‘play’ with her.
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One night in early 2022, she woke up when her father was stripping her and asked what he was doing, and he replied that “he was playing with me.”
She covered herself with a blanket and cried to which her father responded by leaving her and going back to his wife. In April 2022, the family now resided in one room and at night Silindza touched his daughter’s private parts.
“When I asked him what he was doing he told me he was playing with me, and further questioned how else he had to play with me. I cried and left the bed for the floor,” she said.
Silindza is said to have woken up and switched on the light using a torch then started looking for his bush knife. Upon locating it in the room he ordered his daughter to place her head on the pillow and threatened to kill her.
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“He told me he wanted to kill me then commit suicide so that no one would know of what he was doing to me,” she told the court.
Around November of the same year when she was preparing for her exams, she passed out due to exhaustion only to wake up half-naked and her father on top of her.
“When I woke up my pants were off, and my father was on top of me. I then pushed him off and covered myself with a blanket and cried. I tried to talk to him to stop doing this to me and he ignored me,” she narrated.
During cross-examination by the crown, the victim confirmed that her father never had sexual intercourse with her. When questioned why she never reported the incidents she responded that she feared for her life post the threats made by her father.
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She stated that she eventually reported the matter to her aunt who notified her grandfather who took her to the police station at Mafutseni.
He pleaded guilty to the crime. During mitigation, Silindza pleaded for the court’s leniency and apologised for his actions. He also told the court that he is employed with two children.
Magistrate Zulu sentenced Silindza to six years in prison with an option of a fine of E6 000.
