Child rape case postponed
2008-08-01 17:12
Johannesburg - A man arrested in connection with the rape and murder of a seven-year-old girl in Delft on Friday had his case postponed for a week by the Bellville Magistrate's Court in Cape Town.
Prosecutor Marco Chandler requested a seven-day remand to probe the man's background. It would enable the State to decide whether to oppose his release on bail or not.
The man requested legal aid and would stay behind bars until his next appearance on August 8.
Because the charges include a sexual offence involving a minor, the 23-year-old Cape Flats man may not be named until he pleads to the charges.
According to police spokesperson Captain Joe Wilson, the girl failed to return home after her mother sent her to a shop on Tuesday.
Soon after the mother had reported the girl missing to the police, neighbours informed her of an injured child lying in the vicinity.
The girl, still alive, was found next to the Silver Sands Road with visible head injuries. She was rushed to the Red Cross Children's Hospital, where she died.
Wilson said the purchases the girl had made at the shop were found near her, as well as a brick with blood on it.
Wilson said detectives arrested the suspect about an hour later. A doctor established that the girl had been sexually assaulted.
- SAPA