Durban – The KwaDukuza Regional Court has sentenced a 40-year-old man to 30 years imprisonment for repeatedly raping his mentally challenged niece, KwaZulu-Natal police said on Monday.
According to a police statement, "the accused repeatedly raped the victim who was mentally retarded, over the period while staying with her uncle and his wife at Hlomendlini area, Newark near Mandeni" in 2012.
Police spokesperson Colonel Thembeka Mbhele said that the 25-year-old woman did not report the matter to anyone until she became pregnant.
Family members questioned the woman who told them that her uncle had impregnated her.
Newark police station and KwaDukuza Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit investigated the case and found that the accused was linked to the woman after DNA tests were completed.
KwaZulu-Natal Acting Provincial Commissioner, Major General Bheki Langa welcomed the sentence handed down on Friday.
"This will send a strong message to the would-be rapists who think of committing such crimes. We are putting extra efforts commitments when dealing with such crimes against women and children," Langa said.