A 51-year-old man was sentenced to life imprisonment for the rape of a six-year-old boy. The convicted rapist is a neighbour of the house where the boy occasionally visited.

HE LURED THE BOY

According to NPA spokesperson Natasha Ramkisson-Karan, in June 2023, the child was at the house in the Osizweni area in KwaZulu-Natal playing with other children when the man asked him to accompany him to the shop. However, when they were at the gate, he told the child that they were not heading to the shop but rather to his home, where he promised him food. "Once there, the accused gave the complainant something to eat and then asked him to get on top of the bed and lie on his stomach. The accused then raped the complainant," Kara said.

THE BOY SUFFERED SEVERE INJURIES

Kara said when the boy did not return to his friends, the other children went to the accused's house looking for him, and the man told them he would bring him back the following day. But the children insisted they wanted to go with him, and he agreed. She added that the victim told his friends of his ordeal, and the matter was reported to the elders, then the police. "Prosecutor Simphiwe Scelo Hlela led the evidence of the complainant and told the court that the incident has left him emotionally and psychologically affected. "He said that he struggles to make friends and that he has difficulty integrating with his peers. Hlela further told the court that the accused had prepared the complainant for the offence by building a relationship with him," Kara said, adding that the state also presented evidence of the medical report, which showed that the complainant suffered severe internal and external injuries.