Mother of an eight-year-old girl from Port Shepstone is devastated after her daughter was lured and raped by an unknown man after school in the bushes near Murchison Primary School.
According to the mother, the incident happened on last week when the girl was waiting for her transport after school. She was waiting inside the school premises when an unknown man allegedly convinced her and the security that he was sent by her grandmother to come and fetch her.
“My daughter said this man took the wrong direction and when she asked where they were going the man said she wanted to send her to a particular home to get something. She then said he dragged her to the bushed, threatened her not to shout and raped her.”
The mother explained that when she arrived at Port Shepstone from Durban her daughter informed her that an unknown man put two fingers in her private part and she cried.
“I begged my daughter that the following day we will go to the clinic and the police station. The next morning before she took a bath, she went to pee, while peeing she called me and told me that she was bleeding,” she said.
The distraught mother said they went to the nearest clinic where they were transferred to the nearest Thuthuzela Care Centre to get medical attention. The medical reports showed that the child was sexually assaulted.
She carried on saying that the police came to take a statement and the case of sexual assault was opened at Port Shepstone SAPS.
KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson, Colonel Thembeka Mbele, confirmed that a case of rape after an 8-year-old child who was lured by an unknown man from the school premises was opened.
“He allegedly convinced her that her grandmother cancelled the transport and requested him to fetch her. He then raped her a few meters away and fled when another female came looking for the child,” Mbele said.
Provincial spokesperson for the Department of Basic Education, Muzi Mahlambi, condemned the incident adding that it was a barbaric and painful act.
“As a department we are disturbed and angered by these allegations of assault of a Grade 3 pupil. We always strive to make sure that our schools are safe for learners, hence the learners wait for their transport inside the school and the security is always there but these criminals always find a way,” Mahlambi said.
He asked parents to stop writing their children’s names in their school bags because the criminals use the same information to lure children.
Police have yet to make an arrest. Investigations continue.
IOL