The family of a 13-year-old Nyanga girl who was lured to a house before being raped by a 37-year-old man is calling for justice.
Her rape, on Saturday January 22, has sparked outrage in the community.
According to the family, the 13-year-old girl had been called by a trusted woman to her house. The woman asked to call a man and ask him for a drink. The family told Vukani the man is a stall-holder in Nyanga and that he later arrived at the house where he was left with the girl and allegedly raped her.
When Vukani visited the family on Saturday January 30, neither the alleged rapist or the woman had been arrested but the family have vowed to follow the case until justice is served.
The victim’s mother said on the day of the rape she had noticed that her daughter was not home and was not with her friends, who told her that the girl had been called by the woman.
“When she finally came home she was crying all night. I tried to find out but she did not disclose to me what happened.
“In the morning, my sister came and took her to her house and probed her until she told her what happened. It was after that that we took action. We brought the matter to the attention of the police. The police are on the case but we feel that they are taking too long to arrest the guy,” said the distraught mother.
She told Vukani the alleged rapist was a foreigner and she was afraid he might flee the community.
She also claimed that he had been sending her messages, asking her to withdraw the case in return for payment.
“He wants me to cancel the case and promised to pay me for that. I told him that if he keeps doing that I will open another case. But I have since blocked him. All we want is justice. No amount of money can heal my daughter. He has done a lot of damage to my daughter. And I won’t rest until he is put behind the bars,” she said.
As the mother related the story to Vukani, the teenager sat next to her, occasionally nodding her head.
Her grandparents said the girl was traumatised but had yet to go for counselling.
“She is rough and unsettled. You can tell she is disturbed. We are also worried maybe the guy can kidnap her. We know that counselling is coming but it takes too much time. This girl needs to go to school when the schools are open. We would dearly love to see her getting counselling sooner than late,” said her grandmother.
Provincial police spokesperson, Sergeant Mfundo Nyengane confirmed that Nyanga Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences unit was investigating a case of rape and that no arrests had yet been made.
