Doreen Mokgolo
A 15-year-old from Kwa-Thema in Ekurhuleni escaped the clutches of an armed group of sex traffickers.
The teenager was on her way to school last month when she was abducted and taken more than 40 kilometres away from her home.
Later that evening, her mother received a text from an unknown number saying she would never see her daughter again.
According to the mother, the criminals celebrated and cheered when they discovered she was a virgin, leading the girl to believe that they intended to sell her into the illegal sex trade.
“They told her straight in the face that she was their ‘jackpot’ and ordered her to stop crying like a little girl,” her mother told Scrolla.Africa.
“She says they locked her in one of the bedrooms and in the morning they told her they were going out to buy her nice clothes and she must bathe.”
Left alone in the property, the teenager frantically turned it upside down searching for her cell phone to call for help. She was determined not to be sold into sex work.
She didn’t expect them to leave the phone behind but the clueless thugs stashed it away with a bunch of keys.
The teen managed to send both of her sisters her location on WhatsApp. Then she grabbed the keys.
“Something told me to try to unlock the door with the keys and after trying over five keys it finally opened,” she told Scrolla.Africa.
“I ran for my life without looking back. I knew if I waited a minute longer something bad was going to happen to me when I returned.”
The teenager ran straight into a grocery store and called her mother from there.
“I knew the store was a busy place with cameras and even if they saw me I would scream for help,” she explained.
Her mother put her through to her uncle, who lives in the area. He picked her up from the shop and drove her back home to safety.
” We found her shaken and traumatised, she is currently receiving counselling and we are hoping she will get over the ordeal,” added the mother.
Kwa-Thema police spokesperson Constable Nkululeko Magudulela said they are investigating a case of kidnapping.
He said that investigations are underway but so far no one has been arrested.
“We are calling on anyone with information that may assist the police about the suspect’s whereabouts to contact the police on 08600 10111,” he said.
