A look at the “house of horrors”
People are renting rooms and flats in this old-style house which came under scrutiny last year when the residents were arrested for abusing their children.
The Addie visited the house where, it is alleged a couple abused their five children – four daughters and one son – until their arrest in May and June respectively.
The court case of the alleged abuse parents will be heard from May 18 to 29 in the Delmas High Court, almost a year after the father was arrested.
Read the story here.
The father was arrested after his son sought help from a neighbour because he allegedly feared punishment from his father.
The mother was arrested almost a month after her husband appeared in court and they stood in the dock together for the first time on July 25.
The man remains in custody in the Modderbee Prison and the woman is out on bail of R2 000.
Life at this house, rented by this family at the time of the parents’arrest, continues since the police concluded its investigations.
From the outside you can see it is was once a beautiful old fashioned double story house.
Inside you can see this previously beautiful home needs to be painted.
The floors as well as the staircase of the house are covered with dirty carpets.
The are doors without handles and most of the bedroom doors are locked.
The two bathrooms seemed clean and in a good condition.
One male tenant says the house and garden were in a better condition when the alleged abuse parents and their children still lived in the house, because everything was neat and well-kept.
The garden is now unkempt and a gate separating the front and backyard has fallen down.
See more photos of the house in galleries.
The once beautiful swimming pool, with brown dolphin mosaic on the bottom, is empty and the grass around it is very long.
The entire garden is not well-maintained and has grass growing to ankle height in the back yard.
The current occupants, who wish to remain anonymous, are renting out seven rooms inside the house as well as the four outside flats.
A female tenant revealed that all of the people residing there are unemployed.
“None of us have money because we use every cent we can get to buy electricity,” says the woman.
To read some of the stories written by the Addie as the case unfolded can be found at:
- Child abuse accused in court.
- Father’s bail application to continue.
- Mother’s bail opposed.
- Mom gets bail.
