Man tells of raping little girl
Gives stricken family of six-year-old a blank stare
A BRIEF, blank stare was all rapist Arumugam Moonsamy Naidoo could muster when asked to face the family of the sevenyear-old girl he admitted to kidnapping, raping and trying to kill.
Before the magistrate entered the Durban Regional Court on Thursday, prosecutor Val Melis asked Naidoo to acknowledge the child’s parents. He turned briefly to look at them before facing the other way.
Once the court was in session, Naidoo, 38, pleaded guilty to the crimes. He is due to be sentenced this week.
In explanation of his plea, he told the court that the little girl was walking home from school in Mont- clair three weeks ago when he picked her up in his truck.
Naidoo said he took her to a bushy area in Bayhead, in the Durban port area, told her to lie on a bed in his truck and then sodomised and raped her.
“She cried and complained of pain. She kept on crying. I slapped her twice with an open hand,” he said.
He then tied her up and hit her on the head with a brick before leaving her by the side of the road. She was found by the police at 3am after a search by friends and family.
The child, who was discharged from hospital last weekend, turned seven on the day of Naidoo’s court appearance.
Naidoo has no home and sleeps in his truck.
In an interview on Friday, the child’s mother said her daughter had begun smiling again this week in anticipation of her birthday.
“It’s not as bad as it was because at least now she plays a little. She even said she wanted a party since she was turning seven.
“Her teachers also made her happy — they baked her a cake.
“The doctors aren’t sure how much better she will get as yet. Going to the toilet is painful for her. However, her doctors did give her medication for the pain — she feels a lot of pain.”
Childline KwaZulu-Natal acting operations man- ager Vanespiri Pillay said the family had reported in a victim-impact statement that the little girl had become forgetful, distracted and reserved.
The entire family is receiving counselling from Childline.
Pillay said there was no way to tell how long it might take for the child to recover emotionally, and to what extent. “Healing is a process and each child is unique.”
She said the child and the community were “very angry and traumatised”.