Four teenagers have been arrested and charged with rape, but her family are now living in fear.

They say they are subjected to taunts from some of the youngsters, who are out on bail, and the girl has had to be moved to a place of safety.

Four youngsters between the ages of 14 and 16 and believed to be gangsters were arrested on Sunday after the video recording of the October 11 incidentwent viral in the Cape Town town ship.

The girl's 74-year-old grandmother said: "We heard about it [the alleged rape] only on Sunday because they had threatened her with death."

The teenagers appeared in the Khayelitsha Magistrate's Court and were released on R500 bail each. Their next appearance is set for November 15.

A Khayelitsha social worker who counselled the girl said she had a history of sexual abuse and had been in the care of her grandmother since 2004.

Her mother had died in 2008, and her father had earlier abandoned his family.