An extremely sex-starved 15-year-old boy was convicted of the brutal rape of a 3-year-old girl and sentenced to 10 years behind bars in the Pietermaritzburg Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday.
The violent rape of the toddler played out in the Thokoza informal settlement near Howick in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands in May.
The girl’s mother watched helplessly through the keyhole of a door while she was locked outside as her child was raped.
Police spokesperson Major Thulani Zwane said the woman had heard the scream of her daughter rising from her neighbour’s house.
“She went to check and found that the door was closed and the child was crying inside, she knocked at the door but nobody opened. Then she decided to peep through the hole on the door and she saw the accused raping the child. She called her grandmother and the door was opened. The victim was found lying on the floor bleeding,” Zwane said.
A case of rape was reported at Howick Police Station and the case docket was transferred to the Howick Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit.
The girl had been seriously injured and was taken to hospital for medical attention.
On Wednesday after a brief trial, the teen was convicted and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for the rape. He will be housed in a juvenile detention facility until he is of age to move to the normal prison populous, Zwane said.
KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Commissioner Lieutenant General Mmamonnye Ngobeni commended the unit members for the swift conviction and sentencing of the accused.
“This will send a clear message to the would-be perpetrators that police will make sure that cases are thoroughly investigated and perpetrators are bought to book,” she said.
