Father chains son, rapes him: Court orders life in jail to repent

An eight-year-old boy was chained by the ankle to a pole inside the house by his father, a 54-year-old man from a village in the Peddie district of the Eastern Cape, and raped.

Luxolo Tyali, National Prosecuting Authority regional spokesperson, said after the heinous attacktook place in May last year, the father locked his son inside the house and departed.

“The boy managed to untie himself from the pole and ran to a neighbour’s house while one end of the chain was attached to his ankle. The neighbour alerted community members and police were called.

“The perpetrator was arrested the next day while hiding in his relative’s house in Motherwell, Gqeberha, more than 200km away.”

Tyali said the Peddie regional court has sentenced the man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the victim, to life imprisonment for rape, and five years for assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm. The terms are to run concurrently.

During the trial, prosecutor Thobani Matyeni led the evidence of three witnesses, including the minor victim, who testified on camera with assistance from a court intermediary. The examining doctor’s report, which corroborated what was said by the victim and listed the injuries the victim sustained during the assault, was submitted in court.

TimesLIVE