4-Year-Old South African Girl Survives Kidnap, Rape, And Hanging
A 4-year-old South African girl in KwaZulu-Natal was kidnapped from her home, raped, and then hung from a tree with strips of blanket. The little girl is now recovering from her ordeal in a hospital.
In the early hours of Saturday morning, passersby on their way to work in Waterloo, near Verulam, South Africa, were alerted to the sound of a little girl crying for help. One of them ran to the girl’s aid, cut her down from the tree, and then alerted emergency services. Reaction Unit South Africa (Rusa) responded to the incident.
According to IOL, the girl had been raped, and her rapist had then cut strips from a blanket in an attempt to hang her in a tree.
Girl, 4, survives abduction, rape and hanging: A 4-year-old girl who was abducted, raped, then hanged from a tree… http://t.co/YPILFTFnm6
— CapeTown Journal (@capetownjournal) September 1, 2015
Reportedly, the young South African girl had been abducted from the two-room house where she lived with her grandmother, her uncle, and his girlfriend, probably shortly after the grandmother left the home at around 5 a.m.
Her grandmother, who cannot be named to protect the South African girl’s identity, returned to the house an hour later and found that the girl was missing from her bed. She also saw her bag had been tampered with, possibly by the suspect looking for money.
A 4 year old girl was raped and hanged on a tree…what is wrong the men of this generation????
— Modern Day Pantsula (@Thabiso_Dlamini) August 31, 2015
She explained to the media that she recycles bottles to feed the family and that she was meeting with other grandmothers in the area about their small business.
“So I had to meet other grannies very early to find out about this business of ours because this is what we do to survive. I locked the door and left the baby fast asleep.”
The angry grandmother told the media Monday night, “The devil is alive in Waterloo.”
“We don’t know who to trust any more, what must we do, we are worried by this terrible behavior and no one is safe any more.
“The criminals rape everyone, they rape us old women, they abuse girls and boys, everybody is getting abused.”
According to a KwaZulu-Natal spokesman, Major Thulani Zwane, the case has been passed to the Phoenix Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit. They will be investigating the kidnapping, rape, and attempted murder of the South African girl. However, so far there have been no arrests made.
Ward councilor for the area, Mxolisi Nzimbomvu said, “We are counting on the police and the community to assist in finding this criminal.”
“As the councilor I must say that we are shocked because, although there have been cases of rape before, it is the first time that this happens to a small child.
“When our children get raped it means we cannot even leave them in the house because the community is not safe anymore, we must take them on our backs everywhere we go.”
News24 reports that Rusa head Prem Balram had said that when the child was found, she was bleeding profusely and that the South African girl knew the alleged rapist.
The grandmother says she is grateful to her community for the support she has received and said that when she alerted her neighbors to the South African girl’s disappearance, young men had immediately rallied to search for her.
The girl is recovering at the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Hospital with her family at her bedside.
[Image: Courtesy Rusa]
