[This case defies description… a serial rapist of small girls… rapes this girl several times… and she dies of the injuries… Such is the legal system in this country… This is all black on black stuff…

Child rape is so common in this country… that it is only extreme cases such as this which raise an eyebrow… and no more… Jan]

Anger at community silence as police reveal suspect may have had dozens of victims
January 12, 2005

By Graeme Hosken

A 9-year-old girl has died of hideous injuries after a series of rapes, allegedly by a 79-year-old man.

Police believe the man may have sexually assaulted dozens of other children.

The Limpopo girl, whom the authorities have refused to name as she was a minor, died in hospital on Sunday night 13 days after being admitted to Tshilidzini Hospital outside Thohoyandou with critical injuries.

The girl was from Phiphidi village in the area.

According to hospital staff the last attack, on December 28, was so vicious and brutal that the girl’s genitals were ripped apart.

They said that the damage was so severe that had the girl survived she would never have been able to have children.

The man, who cannot be named until he pleads to the charges against him, was arrested hours after the girl was taken to hospital.

He appeared in the Thohoyandou Magistrate’s Court last week and is due to appear again on January 21.

Limpopo police spokesperson Captain Ailwei Mushavhanamadi said police were awaiting the results of a postmortem.

If the rape injuries were the cause of the girl’s death, murder would be included in the charges against the man.

Mushavhanamadi said that it appeared that the girl had been raped over a period of nearly two months by the man, who was not related to her.

“From what she told us before she died, the girl had allegedly been lured with money to the man’s house, where the attacks are believed to have taken place.”

In addition to the brutal attacks on the girl, police believe that dozens of other girls may have fallen victim to the alleged rapist.

Police have appealed to families whose daughters have been raped to come forward, in the hope of linking the man to other assaults.

Jackie Branfield, of the Action Desk for Abuse Against Women and Children, said what had happened to the girl was “absolutely disgusting”.

Something needed to be done to ensure that society changed its lax attitude towards child abuse.

She said that members of society needed to take a stand in reporting such heinous crimes and that people – especially those being bribed into keeping quiet – needed to break their silence.

She appealed to those who knew of child abuse, including parents and teachers, to contact the authorities immediately.

“Those who keep silent are just as guilty as the rapists and abusers,” she said.

People Opposing Women Abuse executive director Delphine Serumaga said last night that community inaction could possibly have been a major factor in what had happened to the girl – and that if somebody had spoken out in time, she might have been alive today.

“It is shocking that we are still dealing with this, and it is time for communities to deal with this issue.”

“The system broke down – somebody must have seen something, somewhere,” said Serumaga.

Anyone with information on child abuse can contact Crime Stop on 08600 10111.

Source: The Star (Johannesburg)
URL: http://www.star.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=12…/p>