New abuse videos ‘most disturbing to watch’

POLICE probing the brutal beating of a 4-year-old Phoenix girl, allegedly by her mother and her lover, have further evidence in the form of two more video clips.

Last week, a two-minute video, which was allegedly recorded by the 20-yearold boyfriend, went viral on social media, despite concerns over protecting the child’s identity.

The clip, which showed a woman smacking, punching, kicking and stamping on the helpless girl a total of 46 times, caused widespread outrage and led to the man’s car being set alight.

The child’s 25-year-old mother and her lover were initially charged with assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. This was later changed to attempted murder after the video was leaked.

According to a source close to the investigation, there are two additional video clips – one a continuation of the video that was leaked on social media, and the other apparently of the boyfriend hitting the child.

“It is most disturbing to watch. Again in the second video the mother is seen kicking and punching the child while the boyfriend records the abuse on his cellphone. Then there is another video of the boyfriend throwing the child against a cabinet and punching her. But we are not sure who is recording that one.”

The source said the authorities were trying their best not to have those videos leaked.

Meanwhile, the boyfriend had handed himself over to police on Friday after his vehicle was torched by angry residents at his parent’s home.

His bail was revoked and he was detained at Westville Prison until Monday when he again appeared in the Verulam Magistrate’s Court.

However, he was once again released on bail of R3 000.

His family declined to comment on the incident.

When POST visited their home and take-away business, both places appeared abandoned.

Neighbours and fellow business owners confirmed the family had not been seen since Friday.

The mother, a call centre agent, is still on R3 000 bail while her daughter, who is recovering in hospital, has been moved to a private room and is under 24-hour protection after someone took a photograph of her in hospital and made it public.

Her aunt, who is not being named in order to protect the identity of the child, said they have been bombarded with people coming into the hospital to visit her niece.

“While we do understand that the community is concerned about baby, they need to give her space to heal. She has been through a very traumatic incident and by people crowding the hospital to see her is not making the situation any easier. In fact, people are causing a disturbance and it needs to stop.”

She said there were only four family members, including the girl’s father, who were allowed to see her.

“In addition to this, we want the public to stop circulating her picture on social media as well, and need to stop spreading rumours that she is dead. We are all trying to get through this together and while we appreciate the support from the community, these things need to be taken into consideration.”

The aunt added that for now the family, especially the father, wanted to concentrate on getting custody of his daughter and focusing on getting justice for what has happened to her.

Her niece, she said, remained in a stable condition and is undergoing physiotherapy which will help her start walking again. “Her legs are still a bit swollen and sore from the beating.”

The aunt said they were overwhelmed with the response from the community wanting to help her niece and a trust fund had been set up with attorneys Thorpe and Hands Incorporated.

Social media expert Timothy Padayachee said users must think twice before sharing pictures of minors, especially those who are victims of abuse.

“Children’s names are not to be used because we need to protect their identity and shield them from further harm. One must remember that someday these images can resurface and cause further psychological harm.”

Padayachee said if the image or video is circulated with the aim of alerting the public to abuse, and if it might save the child, then the child’s face should be blocked out.