Kimberley -
A 13-year-old girl has been arrested in connection with the murder of a two-year-old girl and the rape of another four-year-old girl.
The suspect, a primary school learner from Jan Kempdorp, was arrested last week and appeared in the Jan Kempdorp Magistrate’s Court on Friday.
According to the spokesman for the National Prosecution Authority (NPA), Mashudu Malabi, the young accused is due back in court on Monday.
She allegedly killed two-year-old Refilwe Ramohlabi on May 25 this year. Although it was initially suspected that the victim fell into the dam and drowned, a young witness has now come forward and told authorities that the accused pushed Refilwe into the water and intentionally drowned her.
Although no details were available on the rape charge, police did confirm that the accused is facing a charge of raping a four-year-old girl.
Ramohlabi’s 25-year-old mother, this weekend spoke of the day her only child was found dead.
“My daughter was last seen playing with a neighbour’s child in the backyard. When it became late I started looking for her, but she and her two-year-old friend were nowhere to be found.
“One person apparently saw them leaving with a young girl (the suspect) and I went to the police to report them missing. They told me to search for her myself,” she said.
According to the woman, the police later contacted her, and said that she should come with them because the body of a child had been found in one of the irrigation dams in the area.
“When I arrived at the dam, I saw Refilwe lying on her stomach with her arms spread out beside her. It was the most painful sight I ever had to endure. That indescribable pain has never left me,” she added.
“The suspect was still on the scene when I arrived and she greeted me like she knew me. She even indicated to the police that she knew Refilwe and our family, but I had never seen her before and the other girl’s family also did not know her. I believe she took our children with the intention of killing them,” she said.
Although it was first suspected that the child may have fallen into the dam and accidently drowned, the two-year-old witness later apparently indicated that the suspect pushed Refilwe into the water and intentionally drowned her.
Although most of the many irrigation dams in the area were fenced off and contained clean water, the particular dam where the mother said she found her child was easily accessible and extremely dirty and polluted.
The witness also said that the suspect had apparently shoved sticks down their throats before the alleged drowning. She (the witness) also apparently came back from the dam with cuts to her abdominal area.
The scars of these cuts, allegedly inflicted by the accused, were still visible on the small girl, who was present when the DFA interviewed the victim’s mother.
The elderly community member said she had seen the accused “grow up in front of her”, as they were neighbours.
“She (the accused) was always a pleasant girl who visited often but then she got involved in satanism and witchcraft. Rumours started going around that she was sexually abusing infants. There was also talk that she would cut these children and drink their blood. Fearing for the safety of the young children I looked after, I prohibited her from setting foot at my house again. I still believe the (alleged) drowning was a cult-related offering of some kind,” the woman said.
Although most residents in the informal settlement where the accused and victim resided were unaware of the drowning incident, some did know about the accused, saying she was “a witch” known to “take pleasure in hurting small children” and someone who “hated children”.
On Sunday, police spokesman Lieutenant Sergio Kock confirmed that a 13-year-old girl appeared in the Jan Kempdorp Magistrate’s Court on Friday on charges of murder and rape.
He said that an inquest was initially opened after the drowning incident, but that further investigation led to police opening a murder case.
He added that the suspect is currently being held at a place of safety and that her case would continue on Monday.
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