A 46-year-old man was arrested by the Tshilwavhusiku police last Tuesday  for allegedly raping his niece repeatedly.

According to the police, it was reported that the man had been raping his niece since 2009. The alleged rape was discovered last week, when it was discovered that the 12-year-old niece was pregnant.

The spokesperson for the Tshilwavhusiku police, Const Godwin Mahuwa, said that a case of rape was opened against the suspect.  "The girl originally stayed with her grandmother, but she passed away a few years ago. She was then forced to go and stay with her uncle," said Mahuwa.

He added that the girl also revealed that the man had threatened to kill her. "He allegedly promised to kill her if she told anyone about the matter," he continued. According to Mahuwa, the man had confessed to the police that he had raped the girl.

The man appeared in the Tshilwavhusiku Magistrate on 18 January and the case was postponed to 24 January. He again went to court on Tuesday, but the outcome of his court appearance was not yet known at the time of going to press.