Man sentenced for impregnating 15-year-old girl
A 25-YEAR-old man who impregnated a 15-year-old girl was sentenced to six years imprisonment by the Fraserburg Regional Court on Monday.
Northern Cape police spokesperson Sergeant Timothy Sam said on Wednesday that the incidents of statutory rape took place between August 1, 2022, and March 7, 2023.
“The accused, Zwelitsha Mbongashe, was involved in an intimate relationship with the girl for seven months. The matter was reported to the police when health officials discovered that the girl, who was still a minor, was pregnant,” Sam explained.
He added that Mbongashe was convicted and sentenced to six years imprisonment, which was suspended for five years.
“He was also declared unfit to possess a firearm. His name will be recorded in the National Register for Sex Offenders.”
The Northern Cape provincial commissioner, Lieutenant-General Koliswa Otola, and her management team welcomed the sentence and commended the investigating officer, Detective Constable Jacques Nielsen from the Calvinia SAPS Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences unit, for the “thorough investigation of the case that secured the protection of a child's rights”.
Otola reiterated that adults (aged 18 years or older) are not permitted to date or engage in sexual relationships with individuals under the age of 16 years.
