Grabouw - The mother of a 14-year-old, who was raped and brutally attacked in Grabouw in July, said on Monday that she was struggling to get through to her daughter.
“I try talking to her, I try reaching into her heart… But she won’t talk to me,” said the victim’s mother.
The mother - who cannot be named as to protect the identity of her child - stood outside the Grabouw Magistrate’s Court on Monday morning, disappointed that the trial of the 22-year-old man accused for the rape and attempted murder of her daughter, had been postponed until November 25.
The teen had been viciously raped, robbed, beaten and buried alive under a pile of rocks. She had been dragged to a vacant lot near Granny Smith Street in the Overberg town where she was assaulted by a man who she reportedly knows.
The mother said she had been disappointed by the speed at which the trial and investigation was happening.
However, the mother said she was grateful for the support offered by a detective who was working the case.
“He supported us from the beginning and said that if there is anything we need we must just let him know,” said the mother.
She recalled the horror her daughter had been put through: “At the hospital they did not even wash her face.”
“They gave her all the preventative injections, she was full of needles,” the mother recalled.
She spoke about some of her daughter’s injuries including her skull having been cracked in five places and her arm in three. She said her tongue was so swollen she could not eat or speak.
“She was like a baby again. She couldn’t eat or speak and when she tried to eat, she would vomit everything up,” the mother said.
The 14-year-old had however made a full physical recovery and was back at school and writing her September examinations.
According to her mother, her friends were supporting the young victim and ensuring she fell back into her school routine.
However, her mood swings were intense and her mother often felt shut out.
Ahead of Monday’s trial, the mother asked the victim if she wanted to attend proceedings.
“She asked if he [the suspect] would appear and when I said yes then she said she didn’t want to come,” the mother said, adding that her daughter was also visibly upset and had shut the door on her.
“She is just on her phone and does not want to talk about anything.”
“But I talk to her, I talk to her about things I never could when she was small like about sex and boys and walking alone,” said the mother.
“I talk to her now.”
ANA and Cape Argus
* Comments have been closed to protect the identity of the minor mentioned in the article.