EDEN PARK – When he shrinks back in the arms of his father, while hiding his face, the reality of the emotional scars left on this five-year-old rips through your heart.
And his father, still visibly emotionally torn, tells the story of how he realised that his son suffered abuse at the hands of the mother’s boyfriend.
If it was not for a neighbour’s friend, the abuse may never have been reported and this boy could have become another statistic in our society, disappearing as a number among the many unreported cases.
Early in June, the father was informed by the mother’s neighbour that they phoned for an ambulance to come out and take the little one to hospital.
He had been badly beaten and bruises coloured his little body in purple marks.
The man accused of the abuse is the 19-year-old boyfriend of the 28-year-old mother.
It takes a while, but eventually the little one tells you, while holding on to the man on whose lap he is sitting, that he was beaten with a ”mopstok” and ”besemstok” until it broke.
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He then he points to his small chest and says: “Hy het my hier getrap”.
It is also understood that the man put the boy in a cupboard if he was not happy with the child’s behaviour.
A case was opened at the Eden Park SAPS; unfortunately, a case of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm, instead of child abuse. The father and a community member are in the process of re-registering the case in order for Child Protection Services to take over.
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Please help:
The little one has undergone counselling sessions for the past four weeks with a social worker and now a psychologist will take over.
With the boy now in the care of his father, his immediate family has grown to five, living in a caravan in the backyard of a resident.
On this property there is the caravan, four outbuildings and the main house – all in all, the property provides a home to eight families.
These circumstances have been described as ”Not ideal for the little one to recover best, especially emotionally”.
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An appeal is going out to the community to help the family find a more suitable place to live.
The father, who was employed until two months ago when his contract with his employer came to an end, only wants the best for his family and wants to see his son grow up in the environment best suited for his recovery.
Should you be able to assist, please drop us an e-mail: cvdwalt@caxton.co.za.
