Pretoria - Provincial commissioner of police in Mpumalanga, Lieutenant General Semakaleng Daphney Manamela has strongly condemned an incident in which a five-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a 35-year-old man.
The “strange incident” happened at Ludlow Trust, near Thulamahashe in Bushbuckridge, according to Mpumalanga police spokesperson, Brigadier Selvy Mohlala.
“According to the information, the suspect allegedly went to the girl's place of residence on the said day around 3pm while her grandmother was still inside the house.
“It is further alleged that the suspect took her to the backyard of the house and lured her into a pigsty, which is no longer in use and forcefully raped her,” said Mohlala.
The incident was then reported to the police, and an investigation was conducted by the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit (FCS) at Acornhoek.
The 35-year-old was then arrested and charged with rape. He was on Friday scheduled to appear before the Mhala Magistrate's Court.
This week, the Mpumalanga High Court, sitting in Graskop, sentenced Fanni Poloane, 31, and Keletso Sesi Maimela, 32, to 25 years imprisonment for the murder of their 18-month-old daughter.
“Keletso Sesi is the biological mother of the deceased (toddler) and the two were in a relationship, staying together at Ga-Madiseng Riba Cross in Lydenburg,” said Mpumalanga spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority, Monica Nyuswa.
The court heard that during September 2019 the pair conspired and took the toddler to the mountains around Lydenburg at night.
“Upon their arrival, they immersed the victim in a bucket full of water with her head facing down until she died. They then threw her lifeless body in the bushes and went back to their place of residence.
“The accused’s parents kept on asking the whereabouts of the deceased and they could not give a proper response. The matter was reported to the police and they (Poloane and Maimela) were arrested,” Nyuswa said.
IOL