DAD RAPES HIS ONE-MONTH-OLD
Father must be sent to rot in jail
A FATHER has been arrested after he allegedly raped a month-old baby and her two-year-old sister.
The incident happened at Tshifulanani village near Thohoyandou last weekWednesday. The children ’ s mother told police that she had left them in the care of their 39-year-old father and gone to attend a church service at night.
Police spokesman Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said the mother only discovered her daughters had been raped when she noticed blood clots on their private parts the next morning.
She took both girls to the Tshilidzini Hospital where a doctor who examined them confirmed they had been penetrated. Mulaudzi said police were called and the father was arrested immediately. He is expected to appear in the Vuwani Magistrate ’ s Court this morning on two counts of rape.
“Preliminary investigations have indicated that the victims ’ mother was away on church matters between 9pm and 1am on that day and she had left the children in the care of their father, ” said Mulaudzi yesterday.
“We are concerned that the suspect was supposed to look after the children since they are his own but instead he violated them.”
He said they were also concerned that the mother could leave a one-month-old baby to go to church “at night for that matter ”.
“This is pure negligence and irresponsible of the mother,” Mulaudzi charged.
Tshilidzi Masikhwa, manager at the Thohoyandou Victim Empowerment Centre, said yesterday that such people “must be removed from society completely ”.
“We are worried that such people, despite having committed serious crimes, end up being released on bail. We also urge communities not to take the law into their own hands.”
Masikhwa said they would mobilise support for the family of the victims to ensure that they coped with life after the incidents.
Maleke Mokganyetji, provincial secretary of the ANC Women ’ s League, said they were disappointed by the incident. “It is high time we form men ’ s clubs to educate our men about how best to conduct themselves.”
She said the league would take it upon itself to ensure that social workers came on board to help the family of the victims.
The DA in Limpopo has condemned the incident. Provincial spokeswoman on social development Desiree van der Walt said she was shocked to hear that “any individual can go to the extent of raping his own children ”.
“That man is a danger to society and must be sent to rot in jail,” said Van der Walt yesterday.