The recent spate of rape incidents in Bekkersdal involving minors necessitated local police to issue a warning to parents and guardians.
On Thursday, November 4, an eight-year-old girl was raped by an unknown man and given R3 as ‘compensation’, while on Monday, November 8, a 32-year-old man was arrested for allegedly raping a 13-year-old girl in Bekkersdal weeks before. Police said he allegedly took the girl away in front of her friends and after a while she came back with a R10 note. The day before, on Sunday, November 7, police arrested a man in his late 30s also in Bekkersdal for attempting to suffocate and rape a 14-year-old girl. A neighbour fortunately came to her rescue.
Management condemns the recent alarming rape reports around the Bekkersdal area and are calling on parents and guardians to keep their eyes on their vulnerable children,” said Bekkersdal Police spokesperson Sergeant Linkie Lefakane.
“These minors were targeted by sexual predators who go to victims’ homes pretending to ask for help or to look for someone in the family – only to turn on the children. We’ve discovered that thugs target minors who are in the care of their grandparents; they also invade child-headed homes where security is lax, and take advantage of the children,” Sergeant Lefakane said.
Criminals also struck where they knew children were alone at home, after they’d cleverly distracted adults by creating diversions, for example sending them to the shops.
“They subsequently rape their victims and compensate them with money,” Sergeant Lefakane added.
Parents have been advised to educate their children on behaviour that amounts to abuse so that they speak out at an early age and perpetrators can be brought to book.
It is also the responsibility of every parent to be curious and concerned about their children’s whereabouts all the time,” Sergeant Lefakane said.
She said after a rape has been reported, victims are taken for medical examinations immediately where they’re offered counselling and further treatment until they’re cleared of any sexually transmitted diseases.
“Those who need support or to be removed from unsafe environments are taken to professional social workers. We also have a Crisis Centre at the Bekkersdal Police Station that operates between 07:00 and 19:00,” Sergeant Lefakane said.
