Kimberley - While she still faces a long road of recovery ahead, Kimberley’s six-week-old rape victim is back at home.
The mother of the child, who was allegedly raped by her uncle at the end of November, confirmed yesterday that the baby was back at home and “doing well”.
“We will return to the hospital in Bloemfontein for a check-up just before Christmas,” the mother said, “and she still have to undergo 10 surgeries before she will be back to normal.”
The baby was transferred from the Kimberley Hospital after undergoing emergency surgery following the rape to repair tissue damage.
A few days after the surgery, however, she was sent to Bloemfontein where a colostomy bag was fitted.
According to the mother, the bag will be removed in six months to a year, depending on how fast the child’s wounds heal.
The child’s uncle is scheduled to appear in the Kimberley Magistrate’s Court on Thursday for a formal bail hearing.
The rape of the young baby, who was born on October 17, was described as one of the most horrific instances of child rape ever reported in the country.
The baby, who was initially admitted to the Kimberley Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit, underwent extensive emergency surgery to repair the injuries sustained during the ordeal.
It is believed that the child’s 22-year-old unmarried mother had put the baby down to sleep in the bedroom of their Galeshewe home.
The uncle, who lived in a shanty in the backyard, allegedly lifted the child through the bedroom window and took her to his shanty, where he is accused of raping her.
The grandmother, who heard the infant’s cries, forced the locked door of the shanty open, and saw the naked baby lying in a pool of blood on the bed. The 24-year-old uncle, who rushed out of the shanty, was apparently still zipping up his pants, when the grandmother went inside.
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