Eight-year jail term for man who raped niece

A CAPRIVI Region resident who was caught having sex with his 13-year-old niece was convicted of rape under the Combating of Rape Act and sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment this week.

The 28-year-old man – a resident of a village close to Katima Mulilo – was convicted in the Katima Mulilo Regional Court on Tuesday. He stood trial before Magistrate Naomi Shivute on a charge that he had raped a 13-year-old girl at their home village on February 12 2004.The suspect is an uncle of the girl in question.During the trial, which started on February 22 this year, the girl told the court that the suspect had physically held her down in her room at the village and by force had sexual intercourse with her.The suspect told a different story to the court, however.He claimed that he had had consensual sex with the girl on a couple of occasions, and that he usually paid her N$20 or N$40 for that.On February 12 2004, the matter came to light when family members of the girl found her and her uncle in the act, the court also heard.The Magistrate found that the girl had in fact allowed the sexual contacts to take place.That finding did not mean that the suspect was off the hook, though.In terms of the Combating of Rape Act of 2000, one of the circumstances in which a sexual act is deemed to be rape, is when the complainant is under the age of 14 and the perpetrator is more than three years older.In this matter, that was indeed the case, so the Magistrate convicted the man of rape and sentenced him to eight years’ imprisonment.He stood trial before Magistrate Naomi Shivute on a charge that he had raped a 13-year-old girl at their home village on February 12 2004.The suspect is an uncle of the girl in question.During the trial, which started on February 22 this year, the girl told the court that the suspect had physically held her down in her room at the village and by force had sexual intercourse with her.The suspect told a different story to the court, however.He claimed that he had had consensual sex with the girl on a couple of occasions, and that he usually paid her N$20 or N$40 for that.On February 12 2004, the matter came to light when family members of the girl found her and her uncle in the act, the court also heard.The Magistrate found that the girl had in fact allowed the sexual contacts to take place.That finding did not mean that the suspect was off the hook, though.In terms of the Combating of Rape Act of 2000, one of the circumstances in which a sexual act is deemed to be rape, is when the complainant is under the age of 14 and the perpetrator is more than three years older.In this matter, that was indeed the case, so the Magistrate convicted the man of rape and sentenced him to eight years’ imprisonment.