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'I thought abuse was my fault'
01/02/2007 10:04 - (SA)
Liela Magnus, Beeld
Johannesburg - A stepfather from Mpumalanga has paid a settlement amount of R300 000 to his stepdaughter after he had allegedly started raping and indecently assaulting her 30 years ago.
According to the settlement agreement, the pensioner still denied responsibility for the alleged deeds with his stepdaughter, 43, between 1974 and 1987.
The stepdaughter from Witbank in Mpumalanga initially claimed R1.8m in the Pretoria High Court.
According to court documents, her stepfather started touching her indecently when she was 11-years-old. For the next 13 years he allegedly exposed his private parts to her, raped her, assaulted her sexually and kissed her in an inappropriate manner.
Initially she didn't talk about the abuse as she believed it was her own fault.
According to a psychological report, her stepfather threatened to leave her mother if she said anything, which would have financially crippled her and her mother.
She contemplated suicide
He allegedly spoilt her with gifts and other things.
According to the stepdaughter, she was often subjected to corporal punishment and she was treated violently and in an uncaring manner by her stepfather and mother.
"She experienced a catharsis on January 31 after her stepfather assaulted her mother, who then called in her help," said the psychologist's report.
The woman realised she had not been responsible for the abuse and for the first time confronted her stepfather.
According to court documents the stepfather acknowledged in front of his stepdaughter and her husband in February 2005 that he had molested and sexually abused her. He denied these allegations in court documents, despite having admitted during a pre-trial meeting that he had started having a sexual relationship with her when she was 19. This relationship lasted with the consent of both until she was 24, the stepfather said in this meeting.
The woman stated in court documents that she was suffering acute psychological trauma as a result of the abuse, and that she had been subjected to humiliating treatment.
She was suffering acute depression as a result of the abuse, and had considered suicide since childhood, said the report. According to court documents she had already spent R200 000 on psychological and psychiatric therapy.
She initially claimed, among others, R600 000 for future medical treatment, and R1m for pain and suffering, humiliation and a loss of enjoyment of life.
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