A Nellmapius man was this week sentenced to life in jail for raping a 12-year-old girl who was at his house for a gathering, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said.

The Pretoria Regional Court also imposed a five-year-jail term on the 55-year-old man on Thursday for sexually assaulting the girl, said regional NPA spokesperson Hurbetin Phindi Mjonondwane.

"The man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the complainant, hosted the little girl and her family when the incident happened," she said.

"He lured the girl to a backroom shack whilst the gathering continued inside his RDP house, where he forced the minor to stroke his private part and thereafter forced himself on her."

Prosecutor Dan Sithole corroborated the girl's version with hearsay evidence of her friend, which was successfully submitted in terms of the Law of Evidence Amendment Act as the friend had relocated and could not be traced.

"In addressing the court on merits, Advocate Sithole argued that despite the challenge of the absence of male DNA on the complainant, he nevertheless presented the evidence of the complainant in a logical and sequential fashion which was further corroborated by the viva vocae evidence of the medical doctor who examined the complainant," said Mjonondwane.

Sithole also argued that the man had betrayed the trusting relationship between himself and the girl's family.

"He further argued that the accused actions deprived the innocent complainant of her childhood and left her with permanent emotional scars."

Regional Magistrate Johanna Mthimunye said there was a need for justice to be seen to be done and for the sentence to reflect the seriousness of the offence and to serve as a deterrent.

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