Girl raped, forced to abort
Residents were up in arms after the alleged rape of a 13-year-old girl was discovered over the weekend.
KANYAMAZANE – The alleged victim’s aunt, *Pinky Dlamini (not her real name), said she received a call from her sister (the victim’s mother) on Saturday evening when she returned from church, that she had been informed by the father about the incident.
According to Dlamini’s sister, the child, who lives with her paternal grandmother, missed school on Thursday and was taken to the clinic by her aunt and grandmother.
There it was discovered that she was pregnant. She was then allegedly given pills to terminate the pregnancy and told not to say a word to her father.
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“The weekend before last, we had attended a party with my niece where I noticed how her breasts and waist appeared to be bigger and that had me worried. My suspicions were proven right after her mother broke the news over the phone,” she related.
It is reported that the victim revealed that she was raped repeatedly by two men, a relative who resides in the same household and her paternal aunt’s partner, since last year.
Her grandmother learned about it after her younger cousins had allegedly caught one of the suspects red-handed and reported it to her.
On Saturday, the girl went to her father’s home and disclosed to her stepmother the pills she had been given and that she was given instructions by her grandmother to keep the remains from the abortion in a plastic bag.
The victim also revealed that she threw the foetus onto a dumping site not far from her home on Saturday, as instructed by the grandmother. Her mother was then contacted and a case was opened. Her aunt expressed
her disappointment with the news.
“My instincts were correct on the possibilities of her being pregnant, but I never suspected rape. What hurts me the
most, she is also grades behind at school and who knows when all this mess started? Our families are shattered after finding out that all this happened under the care of relatives.
One suspect, a relative, was arrested and charged with rape. He made his first appearance in the KaBokweni Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday. The case was postponed to November 14.
Provincial police spokesman, Brig Leonard Hlathi has not ruled out the possibility of more arrests but confirmed that investigations are underway.
