Gran relives horror of blinded child
2012-04-29 16:00
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Gingindlovu - “She left home whole and well. But she came back unable to see and badly hurt,” says the grandmother of an 8-year-old who was raped and her one eye gouged out.
The vicious attack on the girl, allegedly a 15-year-old boy close to the family, has left the 75-year-old woman and her neighbours reeling.
The attack happened just 20m from the family’s home in a sugarcane field, as the girl was returning from school. Her grandmother found the girl trying to feel her way home.
The rapist had also tried to gouge out the girl’s right eye. Police say he tried to kill her by strangling her after the rape.
It’s alleged that he had earlier attacked another 8-year-old girl in the girls' toilet at the local school.
Recovering
KwaZulu-Natal health department spokesperson Chris Maxon said the girl was recovering well.
“The left eye was severely damaged and was removed, but the right eye is in good condition. She has received post exposure HIV treatment to prevent her from acquiring the disease.
"She is continuing to receive psychological counselling,” Maxon said.
For the girl’s grandmother, though, the trauma is far from over.
“My first thought was to run and look for the boy that did this so that I could gouge his eye out too,” she said.
She and the boy’s family are close friends. The boy’s great-aunt travelled with his alleged victim’s grandmother to take the little girl to hospital.
'Normal child'
The boy moved to the area from Inanda, near Durban, two years ago.
“He was a normal child. He washed dishes, swept and cleaned the floors like everyone here. I have never had a problem with him,” his great-aunt said.
She said the boy’s behaviour started changing after he went on a church trip over Easter. After this, she said, he started receiving visitations from “demonic forces”.
The boy is due to appear in court next month, having made his first appearance last week. He has been released into the custody of his guardian.
