'When she laughs, it's like she's pretending': Trauma for Limpopo family after 8-year-old girl is raped

“All I want is for this boy to get punishment for what he did.”

These were the words of a heartbroken Limpopo mother, whose family is struggling to recover from the alleged rape of her eight-year-old daughter.

Since then, the traumatised girl and her family have been struggling to cope with the ordeal — with the suspect living nearby and allegedly continuing to harass the little girl. This despite a case opened at the Groblersdal police station and the arrest of the boy.

Limpopo police spokesperson Brig Motlafela Mojapelo confirmed that police were investigating a case of statutory rape.

“The suspect, 13, is now in his mother’s custody while the probation officer is still assessing him for his mental capacity,” Mojapelo told TimesLIVE.

Now, the shattered family has been left with more questions than answers.

The mother recounted the harrowing details — which allegedly happened on the girl's birthday — saying that a neighbour stumbled upon the shocking incident in an abandoned family house. The neighbour then reported what she saw to the boy's family and then the girl's.

The family alerted the mother, who works in Pretoria. After a sleepless night, the distressed mother left for home, only to be met with a confirmation of the incident.

“I also examined her when I got home and got my own confirmation ... it was shocking,” she said.

After reporting the matter, the mom explained that she took the traumatised girl to Groblersdal hospital for an examination. She says things took a turn for the worse when the doctor who checked her ascertained that this was not the first time the girl had been violated.

“I also questioned her when we were alone, asking if what the doctors said was true. She told me, 'It's true, mama.' She could no longer separate the days and the months,” the mom said.

Speaking of how the girl was coping, her heartbroken mother said she was no longer the same.

“She's OK but there are times when she looks like someone who's lost their mind ... Even when she laughs, it's like she's pretending, as if she feels guilty,” she said.

Not only that, but the mother claims her daughter has to see her alleged attacker at school and at home.

The situation has become so unbearable for the girl, the mother says, that she's had to arrange escorts for her to and from school. The family wonders if and when action will be taken against the suspect.

Weighing in on the matter was Dr Shahieda Omar of the Teddy Bear clinic, who said that while the Child Justice Act looked at giving young perpetrators a second chance and giving an “opportunity for intervention, rehabilitation and reintegration”, the young victim should not be “subjected to any further trauma”.

“This is a very sensitive matter, a very serious matter, because if they continue to remain in the same school and he has violated her, this requires more immediate attention.

“They should suspend his attendance at school, where he should be given an option of online learning because we cannot remove the victim from the school because by removing her, it's being punitive and punishing her for being a victim,” Omar said.

Omar slammed the alleged inaction of the authorities regarding protecting the victim and monitoring the alleged perpetrator.

“This should be a children's court inquiry. A statutory social worker needs to be involved here. People are not doing their work, they're lazy,” she said.

TimesLIVE