A tenant has been sentenced life imprisonment for raping his landlord's daughter for four years. The 33-year-old appeared at the Pinetown Regional Court in KwaZulu Natal and will be spending the rest of his life behind bars. The court heard that the victim was only 9 years old when the accused started raping her in 2012. NPA spokesperson Natasha Ramkisson-Kara said the incidents took place in the Marianhill area where the accused was a tenant at the victim's home and lived in an outside room.

BROKEN TRUST  

The family trusted the accused with their children and on many occasions left them in his care. "Both their parents were away either working night shifts or out visiting family and friends. The man used this opportunity to rape the girl on numerous occasions and she eventually fell pregnant.' 

 BUSTED BY PREGNANCY

Ramkisson-Kara said upon discovering the pregnancy, the accused quickly arranged for the victim to terminate before the girl's parents could find out. He was working at a local clinic at the time. "The termination was done quickly before the parents could find out; however the procedure did not go well, and she became sick and was taken to hospital. It was only then that her parents discovered that she had been pregnant. The girl told her mother that she was being raped by the man and he was subsequently arrested,' Ramkisson-Kara added. The matter was successfully prosecuted by Advocate Simphiwe Magagula and the girl was taken to the Chatsworth Thuthuzela Care Centre where she received the necessary psycho-social services, counselling and support.