Father denies impregnating daughter, despite DNA tests

Lebogang Mosikare | Wednesday June 10, 2015 15:33

The state alleges that the father committed the offence in October 2008 at Newsstands location here. Mmegi is not naming the father in order to protect the alleged victim.

Making his final submissions on Friday, the accused reiterated his previous stance that it is impossible for him to have had sex with his daughter, who was then 12-years-old when the incident allegedly occurred.

He said that he was unable to call his last witness to come and testify because she was taken sick.

Earlier, the assistant Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Nomsa Moatswi told Principal Magistrate, Sijabuliso Siziba, that the state believes the accused is an incestuous father who should be convicted as charged.

Throughout the trial, the accused has denied several key pieces of state evidence including forensic DNA tests and the testimonies of his former lover and a social worker.

Instead, the 60-year-old has claimed his child was impregnated by a boyfriend who had since gone into hiding in fear of being arrested for defilement.

“She is my child. I don’t think that I can bear a child and later turn her into my sex mate.

 I am looking forward to her getting married so that I can receive bride price.

“Right now the person who impregnated her has informed our family that he wants to marry her. “As we speak, negotiations for the marriage are at an advanced stage.

The father of the baby told us that he was afraid to tell us that he impregnated our daughter because she was very young by then and he was afraid of going to prison,” the father testified.

During a previous mention, forensic scientist, Goitseone Ngono testified that DNA tests proved that the accused had fathered a child with his biological daughter.

Another state witness, Kate Motshegwe, who is a social worker, testified that the complainant’s brother had brought the case to their attention.

 The complainant’s stepmother also told the court that the complainant had fingered her father as being responsible for her pregnancy.  The accused however, dismissed the stepmother’s testimony saying it was motivated by anger after a bitter break-up.

“She was my girlfriend of 37 years and she thought that we were going to spend the rest of our lives together.

I parted ways with her and that is why she is now on a mission to destroy my life.  “At one point she even hired Zimbabweans to kill me.  I ended up being hospitalised at Nyangabgwe after I was viciously attacked by people she hired.”

The state however says the accused has never challenged his daughter’s evidence on the numerous occasions she has told the court that her father had sex with her.