Durban — KwaZulu-Natal police have allegedly arrested a father accused of raping his daughter.
This was according to the Department of Social Development and MEC Nonhlanhla Khoza who welcomed the police’s swift action in arresting a father accused of consistently raping his biological daughter.
“It is alleged that the father had groomed his 15-year-old daughter as a sex slave. He allegedly threatened to kill his wife if she raised concern about the abuse of her child. The mother has suffered humiliation and constant abuse while unable to escape the perpetrator's brutality,” the department said.
It said that on Tuesday, a team of detectives and social workers made a breakthrough when they rescued the mother and children from their ordeal.
“Police stormed the Eshowe homestead, northern KwaZulu-Natal, last night and arrested the father who had been evading police arrest. The mother and her children were removed to a safe shelter.”
Police spokesperson Constable Thenjiswa Ngcobo said that Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit detectives arrested a 48-year-old man for allegedly rape.
“It is alleged that the suspect was also abusive towards his wife and was charged with assault,” Ngcobo said.
She said that police also found him in possession of two unlicensed firearms and 19 rounds of ammunition.
“He appeared in the Inkanyezi Magistrate’s Court today (Wednesday) on charges of rape, assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, unlawful possession of firearm and ammunition,” Ngcobo said.
The department added that the victim and her siblings will be attended to by social workers and provided with psycho-social support, trauma debriefing and trauma containment.
MEC Khoza welcomed the breakthrough, praising the police and social workers who could not sleep for two days after the matter was reported.
“A team effort of stakeholders responsible for the arrest is recognised. We are pleased that there are people in our community who could not keep quiet seeing the mother and children being abused,” Khoza said.
She said that it was shocking to see the amount of brutality displayed by the father and the continuous violation of the rights of the child.
“It is so immoral that the father can rape a child on a daily basis and do so in front of her mother. The assault on the mother and her other children showed that this man was evil and dangerous,” she said.
Khoza appealed to the courts to mete out a harsher sentence to the perpetrator.
“We are shocked by the extent of heartlessness shown by the perpetrator. It is so disturbing and disgusting that a father can be so abusive to the family, raping his daughter and assaulting a boy child daily,” Khoza continued.
She applauded the gallant efforts of the team of detectives who worked around the clock to execute the arrest.
She added that the government would be happier to see accomplices get arrested.
She also urged investigators to intensify their investigation in order to ensure that those who had been protecting the suspect get punished as well.
“We want to encourage communities to be at the forefront in the fight against gender-based violence. We must never allow anyone to violently take the rights of others. Cases of this nature set us backwards as the nation,” Khoza said.
She also applauded community members for their bravery after contacting the police and the Department of Social Development to rescue the victims.
Daily News