A Zambezi region farmer convicted of raping his daughter (11) has failed with an attempt to appeal against his 18-year prison term.
The man’s appeal against his sentence was struck from the court roll in the Windhoek High Court last Friday, after judges Naomi Shivute and Herman January found that he did not have any prospects of success with his appeal.
The man (45) was convicted in the Katima Mulilo Regional Court on one charge of rape in September 2020.
Regional court magistrate Victor Nyazo found that the man raped his daughter near their home village in the eastern part of the Zambezi region in June 2016.
The man, who is not being named to protect his daughter, was 37 years old at the time of the incident.
The daughter testified during her father’s trial that he raped her when they were walking home from a health clinic where she had been taken to for a wound to be dressed.
The girl’s mother, who was in Zambia when the incident happened, testified that her daughter told her in August 2016 her father had raped her.
The man appealed only against the sentence of 18 years’ imprisonment that he received at the end of his trial and not against his conviction as well.
In the appeal judgement, Shivute found that the man’s explanation for filing his appeal seven months late was not reasonable and acceptable.
She also considered whether there were prospects of success for the appeal and concluded that the magistrate did not misdirect himself when he decided to sentence the man to a prison term of 18 years.
The fact that the man is the biological father of the complainant in the matter and was in a position of trust as her parent was an aggravating factor, Shivute stated.
She also noted that in terms of the Combating of Rape Act, a mandatory sentence of not less than 15 years’ imprisonment applied due to the fact that the girl was under the age of 18 and the perpetrator is her father.
The trial court was not restricted to a sentence of 15 years in prison, but was allowed to impose a sentence longer than that if it fitted the circumstances of the case, Shivute said.
January agreed with her judgement.
During the sentencing in the Katima Mulilo Regional Court, Nyazo remarked: “It troubles my mind and I cannot even bring myself to imagine how a father could inflict so much harm, both physical and emotional, on his own child.”
He also said the man was supposed to protect his daughter and provide a caring and loving environment in which she could enjoy her childhood.
The man told the court he was the father of three children and was making a living from farming, catching fish and doing casual work.
Defence lawyer Mbanga Siyomunji represented him in the appeal.
Hesekiel Iipinge represented the state.
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