Johannesburg - A North West man who allegedly raped a 12-year-old girl and later injected her with “cattle medication”, apparently to stop her from falling pregnant, was due to appear in court on Monday.
The 22-year-old suspect was due to appear in the Lichtenburg Magistrate’s Court on a rape charge.
North West police spokeswoman Major Pelonomi Makau said the incident happened on Thursday night and that the suspect, who is a farmworker in the area, was arrested the next day. The suspect is also a tenant of the farm, while the victim lived on a neighbouring farm. They are known to each other.
“It is alleged that the suspect, who is employed at one of the farms in Lichtenburg, raped the minor and afterwards injected her with medication for cattle to prevent her from falling pregnant. The matter was reported to the police and the suspect was traced and apprehended,” Makau said.
He added that the minor, who is a Grade 7 pupil at a local school, was admitted to hospital but had since been discharged.
Makau said the police investigations were continuing to determine the nature of the substance used to assault the victim.
Child rights activist and president of the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect, Joan van Niekerk, described the attack as “terrible”.
“Sometimes people try to cover up their crime. When they cover up such crime, they then do bizarre things to the child (and) children get caught up in their efforts to hide the crime. Often the results cause more damage to children,” Van Niekerk said.
She expressed concern that people who commit similar offences get released on bail, despite the fact that the South African law was against that.
“South African law is solid. It says bail for such offenders can only be admitted in the presence of extenuating circumstances. The concern is that sometimes people are released on bail without enough inquiry and the safety of the child is not considered. The problem here is the application of the law.
“It is necessary for all these to be handled in a sexual offences court and not in lower courts. These matters need to be dealt with by people with more experience in sexual offences,” she pointed out.
North West acting provincial commissioner Jacob Tsumane said: “It is sad that the incident happened during Women’s Month, where we expected every person, including men, to rally behind the protection of women and children rather than abusing them.
“We will work hard to ensure that the suspect remains behind bars.”
A Joburg-based sexual offences expert said the prosecution team in the matter would have to ask the police investigators to send the medicine allegedly used to the forensic laboratory to determine what the substance is.
Besides the rape charge, said the expert, who did not want to be named, the suspect would also be charged with assault with intent to do grievous bodily. “When the matter goes on trial, the prosecution is likely to use forensic evidence and the effects the substance had, if any, on the victim.
“Assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm does not carry a minimum sentence because the suspect did not use a gun. But in this case, the presiding magistrate can impose a heavy sentence on the assault charge, depending on the effect the substance has on the child,” the expert said.
She added that the suspect would be charged with a schedule six offence because the child is a minor.
* Comments have been closed to protect the identity of the minor or minors mentioned in the article.
The Star