Rape, defilement unabatedly overwhelm Machaneng police
Koketso Kgoboge | Tuesday September 15, 2020 14:30
Last weekend, Machaneng Police Station commander superintendent Gagopale Gaselarona reported that they recorded a case of a 30-year-old man that raped a 10-year-old girl.
The incident occurred on Friday evening in Kudumatse when the girl and her cousin of a similar age attacked while walking home after watching television at a neighbour’s house.
The duo happened upon the suspect, a man of Pitse Ward, who grabbed the young girl and pulled her into the nearby bushes where he sexually assaulted her.
The cousin, who recognised the suspect, ran home to report the incident to their parents. The young victim corroborated the suspect’s identity, a well-known man in the small village.
After a search, he was finally arrested on Sunday in the nearby settlements where he been hiding.
The accused would be appearing before the Mahalapye Magistrate’s Court today.
Meanwhile after the incident, the minor was treated at the village clinic and continues to receive medical attention.
The police superintendent said this was a classic case of neglect of children by parents. He said both the parents of the children and the neighbours who let the two minors walk alone in the dark, displayed lack of responsibility.
“In this day and age, we cannot have minors that age walking in the dark alone. This incident shows how much parents neglect children and how far [behind] we are in this battle against abuse of children,” the superintendent worryingly said.
The officer commanding the Mahalapye District area, senior superintendent Reuben Mphoeng had earlier revealed that the sexual offences in the area in question were concerning.
The Sefhare/Machaneng policing areas include Sefhare, Machaneng, Davedail, Chadibe, Borotsi, Moshopha, Shakwe, Makwate and Mathako villages and their surrounding settlements.
Since the year began, Mphoeng said they had recorded 26 cases of sexual offense. He said they have made 21 arrests, while the other suspects were on the loose, still being tracked. Most of the cases have reached the Magistrate’s Courts.
He said the worrying factor was that cases go unreported. The police chief expressed the particular worry as in some instances they receive reports of defilement from health facilities and schools when parents have attempted to conceal them.
“It is either the nurses that register pregnancies of minors and sometimes teachers at school that report these incidents, and in those cases, you would find the parents knew about the pregnancies and did not report,” the police chief added.
“These are scars that don’t heal. They are issues that emotionally destroy an individual. We speak at all forums about this issue and parents should grab the bull by the horns in this battle to protect their children,” he added.