Mental patient accused of raping toddler

Date: 01 August 2003 By: Frank Mavhungu

According to the police spokesperson in the Mopani area, Capt Moatshe Ngoepe, the victim's mother left her in the kitchen and went to the bathroom when the incident occurred.

While she was still in the bathroom, the suspect entered the house and saw the child playing alone in the kitchen. He allegedly undressed the toddler and raped her. She started screaming during the ordeal. Her mother heard her screaming. She quickly left the bathroom and came to the kitchen, where she found the suspect on top of the victim. When the mother arrived on the scene, the suspect jumped up and ran away, leaving the three-year-old girl crying helplessly. The mother reported the matter to the police and the suspect was arrested a few hours after the incident. According to the police statement, the suspect is a psychiatric patient. He was still to appear in court at the time of going to press.

In a separate incident, the Saselemani police arrested a 15-year-old boy on Tuesday afternoon and charged him with three counts of rape. The incident took place at Saselemani village two weeks ago. According to the police statement, the suspect found the three victims, aged 2, 3 and 4, collecting locusts in the bushes. The statement indicates that the suspect advised the victims to move to another place where he said locusts were available in abundance.

On arrival at the prescribed spot, the suspect allegedly raped them one after the other. He later instructed them not to tell the story to anybody or else he would kill them. One of the victims' mother noticed that she was not walking properly and decided to question her. She told her mother about the incident. They were all taken to the local health centre, where it was confirmed that they had been raped. The suspect was still to appear in court at the time of going to press.

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Frank Mavhungu

Frank is a Human Resources Manager at the Department of Public Works in Limpopo. He is the longest serving correspondent of the Mirror, having joined us at the end of 1990.  He mainly writes sports reports and resides at Tsianda Village. In 2004, Frank won the National Castle League Award, an award for the best reporter in the SAB league in South Africa.

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