Durban — A father accused of raping his daughter will appear in court again on Wednesday for a formal bail application.
Police spokesperson Constable Thenjiswa Ngcobo said that the accused appeared before the Inkanyezi Magistrate's Court on Thursday on charges of rape and assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm as well as unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition.
“He was remanded in custody until August 31, 2022, for a formal bail application,” Ngcobo said.
She said the father was arrested after Brigadier Ndlovu from the Provincial Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit established a task team on Tuesday, immediately after information was received of a teenage girl that was raped in Eshowe, northern KwaZulu-Natal.
Ngcobo said that the team proceeded to KwaKhoza in Eshowe where a debriefing was done and the house of the suspect was identified.
“As police officers approached the house, the suspect fled into the bushes. In the house, police found the suspect's wife with her two children and they were immediately removed to a place of safety by a social worker,” Ngcobo said.
The team left the area but two detectives from FCS Unit remained in the bushes waiting for the suspect to return. The 48-year-old suspect was placed under arrest when he eventually returned, Ngcobo said.
“He was found in possession of a revolver with two rounds of ammunition. Police took him to his house where a shotgun with 14 rounds of ammunition were also recovered.”
“During the investigation, it was established that the suspect repeatedly raped his own daughter from March 2022 until July 2022 and severely assaulted his 12-year-old son and their mother,” Ngcobo said.
She added that the mother suffered constant abuse and was unable to escape the perpetrator's brutal acts.
On Thursday, the Daily News reported on information received from the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Social Development, that stated that the police had arrested a father accused of raping his daughter.
MEC Nonhlanhla Khoza welcomed the police’s swift action in arresting a father accused of consistently raping his biological daughter.
“It is alleged that the father had groomed his 15-year-old daughter as a sex slave. He allegedly threatened to kill his wife if she raised concern about the abuse of her child. The mother has suffered humiliation and constant abuse while unable to escape the perpetrator's brutality,” the department said.
It said that on Tuesday, a team of detectives and social workers made a breakthrough when they rescued the mother and children from their ordeal.
Police stormed the Eshowe homestead, northern KwaZulu-Natal, last night and arrested the father who had been evading police arrest. The mother and her children were removed to a safe shelter, the department said.
The department added that the victim and her siblings will be attended to by social workers and provided with psycho-social support, trauma debriefing and trauma containment.
Daily News