LULEKANI TOWNSHIP : The Provincial Commissioner of Police in Limpopo Lieutenant General Thembi Hadebe has strongly condemned an incident in which two suspects were arrested after a 14-year-old girl was allegedly raped by her stepfather on 24 September 2023 at Lulekani outside Phalaborwa in Mopani District.
The victim’s stepfather, 42, who is a Department of Correctional Services Official, as well as the minor’s mother, 46, who reportedly assisted the perpetrator to commit the crime, were arrested at their home on Monday 25 September.
The couple was arrested after the victim reported the matter to the Police’ and the case of rape was opened and then transferred to the Phalaborwa Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit for further investigation.
According to the police spokesperson Colonel Malesela Ledwaba, It is alleged that when the victim refused to sleep with her stepfather, both suspects assaulted her and forcibly took her to the bedroom where the perpetrator raped her while her own mother pinned her down.
Ledwaba says the suspects made their first court appearance on Tuesday 26 September and were remanded in custody until they were each granted R2000-00 bail when they appeared again before the Lulekani Magistrate’s Court on Monday 02 October. Their case was postponed until 24 November 2023 for further police investigations. The man was charged with rape and the mother faces charges of having been an accomplice in the rape case. The identity of the suspects cannot be disclosed in order to protect the victim.
“The alleged behavior of the parents against their own child is very shameful and disturbing. Parents and guardians are tasked with the huge responsibility to raise their children in a respectful and responsible manner, so that they in turn grow to the responsible future parents. All the children deserve to be protected and never be abused by anyone, including their parents,” concluded Lieutenant General Hadebe.
Police investigations are still continuing.
