Pretoria - A 31-year-old man based in Mamelodi East has abandoned his bail application before the Mamelodi Magistrate’s Court where he is facing a charge of attempting to murder an 8-year-old girl.
North Gauteng regional spokesperson for the director of public prosecutions, Lumka Mahanjana, said the man and the mother of the minor girl are in a relationship.
“It is alleged that on April 24, 2022, the couple had gone to a funeral, where an argument broke out between them. The following day, while the mother of the minor had gone to a nearby car wash, the accused went to a house where she stayed, to try to work things out,” Mahanjana said.
When he arrived, he allegedly found the minor with her grandmother.
“It is alleged that the accused used a butcher knife he found in the kitchen. The mother of the victim heard the screams of her mother and quickly rushed home, then took her injured child and rushed her to a nearby hospital,” said Mahanjana.
“The child survived the incident, and is now back from the hospital and recovering at home.”
During the court appearance, a petition containing 98 signatures of community members demanding the accused not to be released on bail was submitted in court.
The matter was postponed to May 30 for further investigation.
In a similar incident in January, police in Joburg arrested a stepfather for allegedly raping a minor who lived with him at a block of flats in the CBD.
“The family violence, child protection and sexual offences unit apprehended a 32-year-old stepfather for rape at the corner of Joubert and Kerk streets on Saturday, January 30, at 11am,” Johannesburg central police spokesperson Captain Xoli Mbele said at the time.
“It is alleged that suspect raped a 11-year-old stepdaughter before Christmas at a flat on the corner of Delvers and Albert streets. The victim was sleeping with her siblings when he raped her. He threatened to kill her if she screamed.”
Mbele said the 11-year-old reported the rape to her mother and the stepfather had been on the run until his arrest.
IOL