An eight-year-old girl has been bitten, had an eye gouged out and been raped in Gingindlovu, KwaZulu-Natal police said on Wednesday.
Her attacker dragged her into a sugarcane field next to her home, where her grandmother was waiting for her to get back from school on Monday, police spokesman Captain Thulane Zwane said.
“The eight-year-old victim could barely walk, but managed to drag herself into the yard in front of her house before collapsing. She was dressed in her school uniform and was dishevelled and dirty.” The girl was taken to a clinic, and from there to a hospital.
“He gouged her left eye out of the socket, and tried but failed with the right eye, which was left swollen shut. She was bleeding profusely from both eyes,” said Zwane.
“The suspect also bit her in the neck, raped her and left her lying helplessly on the ground.” There was also an attempt to strangle her.
A 15-year-old boy was arrested and expected to appear soon in court in Gingindlovu. Police were investigating whether he was involved in an attack involving a Grade Six pupil earlier in the day.
Gingindlovu is about 60km south-east of Richard's Bay.
KwaZulu-Natal health department spokesman Chris Maxon said the girl was initially taken to Eshowe Hospital, but was then transferred to Ngwelezane Hospital, in Empangeni. She was undergoing surgery late on Wednesday afternoon. He could not comment on her condition, or whether her sight had been saved. - Sapa