Rapist: I was possessed
2008-06-24 21:05
Grahamstown - An Eastern Cape man was "possessed by evil" when he raped his 11-year-old stepdaughter, the Grahamstown High Court heard on Tuesday.
A 55-year-old Sotho-speaking man from Aliwal North, who cannot be named, was giving evidence in mitigation of sentencing before Judge Elna Revelas.
On Monday, Revelas convicted him of raping the girl on numerous occasions between December 2006 and February 2007.
Shortly before the girl turned 12, she gave birth to his baby girl in November, last year.
He would be sentenced on Wednesday as Revelas said she wanted to consider the matter overnight.
The man said: "I was possessed by evil. I do not know why I have done these things and I am very sorry for what I have done to the girl."
State Advocate Nickie Turner called for a life sentence to be imposed on the accused.
"This little girl was regularly beaten with a sjambok and sticks and the accused sexually accessed her whenever he felt inclined to do so," she said.
"She was like a slave or chattel and he regarded her as being worthless, and subjected her to extreme physical and sexual abuse at will."
- SAPA