For three days, a family in the Eastern Cape frantically searched for their 12-year-old daughter.
What they didn’t know was that the girl was only a short distance away from their home in Kariega, and that she was allegedly being passed around between three men who took turns raping her over three days in October.
The young girl was allegedly held captive in KwaNobuhle, Angola in the Eastern Cape, after being picked up on Friday, 28 October, by a man she recognised.
The man allegedly dropped her off in a different area of the township where another man, known by the victim’s family, allegedly proceeded to rape her before handing her over to a different man the next morning.
According to the girl’s family, she was also forced to do her accused rapist’s laundry.
Since the young girl’s mother passed away, she has been living with her aunt. Her aunt says the young girl returned from school one Friday afternoon in October and her cousin was the last person to have seen her on the day.
“When I asked my daughter about her cousin’s whereabouts, she told me she last saw her standing at the gate,” the victim’s aunt told Scrolla.Africa.
With the help of the community, the girl was finally rescued on 1 November. Two of the accused were arrested on 5 November, but the third suspect is still at large.
The two suspects appeared in the KwaNobuhle Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday morning. They will spend the festive season behind bars following the postponement of their case to 20 January.
Treatment Action Campaign’s (TAC) provincial chairperson, Pamela Baleka, attended the protest outside the court on Tuesday. She says the organisation is happy with the decision to remand the two suspects.
“We’re worried about the girl’s safety, as the remaining suspect may attempt to silence her,” Baleka said.
Pictured above: In the middle, Thembisile Nogampula, along with members of the Treatment Action Campaign
Image source: Anita Dangazele
