Nyanga, near where the incident took place. Photo by Mary-Anne Gontsana.
5 May 2014
Last Thursday a twelve-year-old girl was raped in Nyanga, allegedly by her neighbour, in front of her grandmother.
A friend of the alleged rapist stood lookout.
The identity of both men, as well as the girl and her grandmother, are known to GroundUp. We refer to the accused man as Mr X in the remainder of this article.
After the incident the grandmother alerted the community and identified Mr X, who is about 30 years old, and his friend. The girl was also taken to hospital for examination.
The community got hold of Mr X before the police and beat him. By the time the police came Mr X begged the police to arrest him because the beating was too much to bear. His friend was also beaten and arrested but later released without charge.
Nosiphiwe Njoli who doesn’t stay far from the victims’ house said that she hopes that Mr X does not come back to the community. He “grew up here and he saw this child everyday and he is part of our community. How could he do such thing? And whatever evil motive he had how could he rape someone in front of their family member?” she said.
Andile Nkoliso who grew up with the alleged rapist said that he is a drug addict who he believes was high on Tik when he committed the crime. “The girl stays a few houses away from [Mr X] and she is very sweet and doesn’t bother anyone. I do not understand why such an evil thing would happen to her. And also the grandmother is a sweet lady who participates in community activities. Nyanga needs help. This is too much,” said Nkoliso.
According to a family friend who asked not to be named, the grandmother is in shock and doesn’t talk much about what happened to her granddaughter. The friend also said that the family is scared. It is hard for them to leave the house, “They always look at the door thinking that the friends of the perpetrator will come to victimize them again.”
“Since [Mr X’s friend] is walking freely in the community, he is a frequent reminder of what had taken place and that is making some of the community members furious”, says the friend.
Today the Zwelitsha part of the Nyanga community will hold a meeting at 6pm where they will discuss crime related issues in the area and how to assist the victim and her family.
The police did not respond to a request for comment for this article.