JOHANNESBURG – A 41-year-old man was sentenced to life imprisonment for the rape of his 12-year-old niece, Johannesburg police said on Monday.

Police spokesperson, Captain Xoli Mbele, said the man was found guilty and sentenced on Friday by Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court after being arrested for rape at Mayfair on February 11.
According to the police statement, the man raped his niece several times during May 2015, after she came back from school.

WATCH: South Africans talk about rape

“The mother of a child saw her child stomach swelling and decided to take her to hospital,” Mbele said.

The doctor saw the child on December 28, 2015, and confirmed that she was pregnant, after which the girl related the story to the doctor.

African News Agency