Uncles take turns raping girl
2006-05-23 14:18
Malelane - An eight-year-old girl has told teachers how her three uncles took turns raping her one night.
She said she shared the same bedroom with her uncles, who are aged between 16 and 25, in Block B trust outside Malelane in Mpumalanga.
Teachers confronted her when they noticed that she was starting to smell bad, said Tonga police spokesperson Constable Mzwandile Nyambi on Monday.
"Teachers questioned her and she told them what was happening to her. They also found that she wasn't wearing any panties," said Nyambi.
The little girl said she was asleep when she felt pain and woke up to find one of her uncles raping her.
"When she tried to scream they stuffed a blanket in her mouth and took turns raping her," said Nyambi.
In the morning she told her grandmother what had happened. Her grandmother took her to stay with her sister. The case was reported to the police and she wasn't taken to a clinic.
Child in care of social workers
The teachers took the child to a clinic and nurses confirmed that she'd been raped.
One of the suspects was arrested on Monday and the other two are still at large.
The child is now in the care of social workers. It's not clear where her parents are.
Police couldn't say if the grandmother would be charged with failing to report a crime or trying to hide it.
The police have advised parents not to allow their daughter to be left alone with elderly men, even if they are relatives.
In a separate incident, a 17-year-old boy from KaMhlushwa has been arrested after being accused of raping his seven-year-old sister while their parents were away.
The suspect will appear in court soon.