Eighteen-year-old uncle arrested for raping 8-year-old niece

The Bekkersdal Police’s efforts of rooting out criminal activities from the different communities are paying off.

This after they arrested an 18-year-old young man who raped his 8-year-old niece.

News of this emerged during a door-to-door campaign on October 28 at the Silver City informal settlement in Bekkersdal, with the aim of identifying victims of crime and addressing the criminal element. It was during this time when the Gender Based Violence Brigade received a tip-off about a child victim suspected of being sexually abused by one of her family members.

Bekkersdal Police spokesperson Linkie Lefakane said the brigade followed the information before alerting the police.

“The matter was reported to the police and assigned to Detective Constable Lutendo Ligidima of the Carletonville Family Violence Child Protection and Sexual Offence unit who swiftly attended to the incident and arrested the 18-year-old uncle shortly after a case was opened.

“Crimes affecting women and children continue, despite educational talks conducted on a daily basis by the police, who partner with other departments with an effort of lessening such incidents. This is an an eye-opener that sometimes those causing harm to others are mostly the ones who are supposed to be protecting them. Let us take a stand to end Gender Based Violence,” said Lefakane

She added that the alleged victim was taken to the local clinic where it was confirmed that she was indeed penetrated.

The suspect made his brief court appearance on October 31 at the Westonaria Magistrate’s Court and remained in custody pending his bail application.