'Incest dad' appears in court

2006-07-07 17:45

Sakhile Mokoena

White River - A man accused of fathering three children with his daughter after convincing his family that it was his biblical right, appeared in court on Friday.

The 49-year-old father was not asked to plead to incest in the KaBokweni magistrate's court outside White River and was remanded in custody until August 11 when he appears again.

He is accused of sleeping with his 21-year-old daughter since she was 13 and fathering her three children.

Police said the suspect kept his family like prisoners and banned them from talking to neighbours to "protect them from the evils of the world".

They believed the world was coming to an end soon.

They had their own "church" where the father preached that a girl had to sleep with her father in order to go to heaven.

The father had his own bedroom and would allegedly call either his wife or daughter when he wanted sex.

The family escaped when they came across a letter on February 4 in which the man allegedly wrote about a plan to kill them and commit suicide with his licensed firearm.

The girl, her three children, her mother, and five siblings fled to relatives in Nkomazi and reported the matter to the police.

- African Eye