Kids attacked while picking fruit
A BRAVE nine-year-old Malabar girl managed to untie her four friends after they were tied up by a tattooed man who raped one of the children on Sunday.
The group of friends – three girls and two boys – were tied up with their shoelaces shortly after picking fruit in Morningside.
The child untied her friends when the man fled after raping a 12-year-old girl.
The girl, whose parents declined to be named to protect her identity, said: “I realised the man had not properly fastened my hands.”
She said that after freeing herself she helped her friends. “The eldest girl immediately ran to get help after the attacker had left. It was very scary.”
Police spokeswoman Captain Sandra Janse van Rensburg said police were investigating.
“The girl was walking with her friends when they were approached by a suspect who was armed with a knife,” she said.
The man demanded money and cellphones from the children. After they told him they did not have either he took them to nearby bushes.
The mother of the raped child said she immediately took her daughter to a doctor.
“The doctor confirmed the ordeal. I am hurt by all this. Our children no longer feel safe in this place. This kind of thing never used to happen when we lived in Parsonsvlei,” the woman said.
The families were evicted from privately owned land in Kabega Park two months ago and relocated to Malabar.