Cape Town - A nine-year-old girl has been raped in a toilet in Blikkiesdorp, allegedly by a 17-year-old boy who had been asked to look after her while the mother was out.
The teen, who cannot be named, made his first appearance at the Bellville Magistrates’ Court on Friday where he faced a charge of rape.
The boy was bust on Wednesday, and later the evening released into the custody of his parents.
The child’s mother, 34, says on Tuesday, she asked the teen to look after her children, aged 15, 11, nine, six and four, while she and a friend went to look for her husband.
“My husband was at a friend’s home and I was getting worried because of all the attacks in the area,” says the Delft mom.
“I first asked the teen, who is my neighbour, to go and look for him, but he said he would look after the children until I come back.”
She says she and her husband, 39, immediately knew something was wrong when they returned home.
“She [the child] was red in her face and her pants were skew,” says the mom.
She says the girl claims her attacker covered her mouth and raped her in the toilet after she peed.
The parents say they are upset because they still have to see the teen despite him being arrested.
“It is very traumatising for the child and she doesn’t want to be around any man now.
“He [attacker] is walking around in the community. He made an appearance in the juvenile court [on Friday].
Police spokesperson, Lieutenant-Colonel André Traut, confirms: “A 17-year-old suspect has been arrested and he appeared in the Bellville Magistrates’ Court [on] 28 September.”