A man was released from prison after his daughter told authorities that her mother forced her to lie against her father.
Cedric Shezi, 39, has been released from prison after spending 10 years behind bars.
Shezi has been falsely accused of defiling his daughter.
The accusations began in 2003 when his daughter, Pinky Dube, who was 8-years-old at the time, told a social worker that her father had molested her. Shezi of Durban, South Africa , was convicted in 2005 and he was sentenced to life for allegedly defiling his daughter.
Years after the conviction of her father, the girl came forward and told authorities that her mother, Zanele Dube, forced her to falsely accuse her father of r*pe. Pinky told authorities: “My father had an argument with my mother in 2003. The next day my mother took me to the social workers and told me to tell them that my father defiled me four times.”
Her father, who had always maintained his innocence, was jailed at that time. After her mother died in 2007, the girl decided to come clean. In 2009, Pinky finally mustered up the courage and went to authorities and told them that her accusations were false.
Since then, his lawyers had tried to get him released from prison, but it was a struggle. Now, three years after the truth was revealed, he is finally free. When he got out of prison, his daughter Pinky hugged her father and cried as she and asked her father for forgiveness. She wept as she said: “Please forgive me, Dad.”
Cedric’s lawyer, Lindokuhle Mdletshe, said “Pinky was just a child at the time, and she was used by her mother.”“I do not hold any grudges against my daughter. She was young and was fed the lies that she told the court,” Shezi said.
A relieved Pinky said: “Luckily, my father is not holding a grudge against me. He has been calling from jail all the time to remind us that he loved us, no matter what happened.”
Family member Khumbuzile Shezi, 52, said: “I blame our justice system for not having done a thorough investigation into the allegations. Cedric lost his job, his life was ruined and wasted his time, which he should have been with his family.”
Naij
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