A 91-year-old pensioner is due to appear before the Bushbuckridge Magistrate’s Court in connection with the alleged rape of a 11-year-old girl.
According to the provincial police spokesperson, Brig Leonard Hlathi, the suspect is also facing an additional charge of assaulting a five-year-old boy.
The children’s mother, who is believed to the old man’s girlfriend, is sought by the police for child neglect after the two children as well as a two-year-old girl were reported to have been left abandoned. This ordeal was brought to the attention of the police on March 23. They immediately started with their investigations into the matter.
READ: Woman sentenced to five years in prison for child neglect
According to the reports, it all started when a concerned citizen went to a certain house in Bushbuckridge and found the three children in a terrible state without parental care. The children are said to have informed the woman of their ordeal, and indicated that their parents have been abusing them physically, emotionally and sexually.
“Details given by the children also revealed that the 11-year-old girl had allegedly been raped by the old man, at times, in the presence of their mother,” read the media release. “A case was also opened accordingly, hence the arrest of the suspect and as well as the manhunt for the mother,” said Hlathi. READ :Bushbuckridge man pleads guilty to raping pensioner
Details of the court outcome were not known at the time of the article being posted. Anyone with knowledge of the whereabouts of the children’s mother may contact Det Sgt Macro Makwela on 072-613-2576 or call the Crime Stop number at 08600-10111. Alternatively, members of the public can send information via the My SAPS app.
