Durban - Shocking allegations of the repeated raped of a 10-year-old child in the Umkhanyakude District have emerged and at least one person has been arrested.
The child and the next of kin cannot be identified due to the nature of the alleged crime.
Police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Thulani Zwane said a 26-year-old man was arrested on May 30 and was expected to appear in court again on Wednesday.
The arrest follows disturbing revelations that the 10-year-child was repeatedly raped and her grandmother allegedly facilitated the rape and took money from the accused. It’s also feared that the girl’s 3-year-old sister may have suffered sexual assault.
Zwane said the suspect was to appear in court this week and police were still investigating the allegations against the grandmother.
Spokesperson for the Department of Social Development in KwaZulu-Natal, Vukani Mbhele, said the children had been moved to a place of safety.
“We are not sure how long she (the 10-year-old) had to endure this but it seemed that she had been going through it for some time,” Mbhele said.
She said the child had been living with her grandmother in the Umkhanyakude area, in Zululand, where the abuse allegedly happened. She relocated to her mother’s home in Richards Bay recently and that was where the signs of the alleged abuse emerged.
Mbhele said the department had become aware of the abuse last week after it had been reported in a weekly newspaper. “Our social workers have been there and visited the family,” he said.
Media reports have alleged that the grandmother locked the child in a room with men where she was raped. While the men raped her, the grandmother would be sitting in the lounge and when they were finished, they gave the grandmother money which she used to buy alcohol.
“We are still going to be conducting interviews with the family and provide psychological help for those who have been affected because this kind of abuse affects many people. We are not certain whether the 3-year-old had also been abused, we are still going to establish that,” Mbhele said.
He said it was clear that the child had been traumatised.
Attempts to speak with the child’s family members were unsuccessful on Wednesday.