Rape accused dad appears in court

“MY FATHER is a great man – he taught us the right things in life,” the eldest daughter of a 50-year-old Chatsworth man accused of raping one of his five children, said. The young woman turned 20 on Friday. The day before her birthday she was upset as her father had to appear in court again in a rape case in which her 9-year-old sister was the victim. He was subsequently charged with the rape of his 15-year-old daughter, but this charge was dropped due to a lack of evidence.

The man and his children cannot be named because of the nature of the charges. He appeared before Magistrate Melodious Gwala in the Durban Regional Court this week.

Self-employed, he was arrested in March after the 9-year-old girl told her teacher he’d raped her.

Denied bail in the Chatsworth Magistrate’s Court, the father has been in detention, awaiting trial, while his two younger daughters were kept at a safe house.

“I’ve never been away from my father for so long, it’s killing me,” the eldest daughter said as relatives tried to console her on Thursday.

Prosecutor Sibongile Mkhwanazi asked for a postponement as the 9-year-old had been moved to a new safe house and could not attend the proceedings.

Gwala postponed the case to next month and said Naidoo would be granted bail only if compelling new circumstances were presented.