‘My dad raped me for decades’: Mother of two reopens abuse case
|Published
Father and daughter illustration pic
“My father is a sexual predator and I want everyone to know it.”
A 38-year-old woman from Elsies River has broken her silence about her decades of sexual abuse, allegedly at the hands of her 73-year-old father, after believing that he has started abusing her young nieces as well.
The mom of two told the Daily Voice: “I am no longer afraid to speak about what he did to me.
“I was only eight years old when he first raped he, orally and vaginally.
“He turned to me after my sister who was 14 ran away, and the worst part was that my mother didn’t believe me, she would take his side.”
The woman recalled how humiliated and hurt she felt after her father, now 73, ejaculated on the bed next to her.
“For years it continued until I told my brother when I was 13. That very same day we went to open a case at the police station.
“My mother found out and screamed at me, and I also ran away, but the next day she found me at the day hospital where she took me to my abuser’s family and forced me to withdraw the case.”
This year, she claimed that her nieces had also been abused.
“My heart sank when I found out that my niece was sexually abused by my abuser from the age of five, until she was 14. The one is just seven.
“We made cases but all our cases were dismissed due to lack of evidence; they were too traumatised to testify.”
She has now reopened her case. “I knew I had to do something this time, even if I don’t win the case, I want people to know about him and I want survivors to know that there is always someone out there who will believe and support them.”
Police spokesperson FC van Wyk confirmed that a rape case was opened against the elderly man.
“Kindly be advised that the mentioned case is a rape case.
“The docket was sent to Parow Court for consultation on June 6, 2023.”