Close relatives of a teenage girl allegedly set a dog on her, and now threaten and taunt her by singing: "The dog must bite her, the dog must bite her."
Lerato*, 17, was attacked during a row between her mother and the family of her late father. Two aunts and a half-sister were arrested, but the case was struck off the court roll due to an allegedly sloppy police investigation.
Lerato's mother said: "They swear at us almost every weekend, telling us Lerato is a bastard and I must tell her who her father is."
Lerato's mother gets income from letting out rooms and the attack, in August, was apparently sparked by a row over one of the rooms. An aunt allegedly hit Lerato with a bottle and the two other women allegedly set a dog on her.
Lerato suffered a black eye and had five weeks of rabies treatment.
Her grandfather, who saw the attack, said police did not take the statement he was willing to give.
Lerato's mother said: "The government keeps saying they are protecting their children, but I don't feel they are."
She said the case was withdrawn on January 26 to give police more time to complete the investigation, but the investigating officer had still not contacted her or other witnesses.
Police spokesman Brigadier Mathapelo Peters has not responded to a request for comment on the delays.
Lerato's mother said: "I want them [the family members] to go to jail and pay for what they did to my child. How can they do something like that to a child?"
Information that may identify
Lerato, including the names of her accused family members, may not be published as she is the complainant in a criminal case.
Lerato's half-sister does not deny the property dispute, but said she did not harm Lerato.
"Nobody attacked her. We didn't even see a dog. I don't know why I was arrested."
*Not her real name
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