Everson Luhanga
Alexandra teenager Nasiphi was allegedly raped by her mother’s boyfriend last November.
On Monday she revealed her ordeal to her mother and demanded that the man leave their house.
On Tuesday, Nasiphi overdosed on TB medication and died a few days later in hospital.
A letter which is believed to be a suicide note was found and read: “I am sorry, I had to.”
The incident has angered residents in Alexandra, Johannesburg who went to the house on Saturday wanting to beat up Nasiphi’s mother, Lumka, and the alleged rapist. The rape suspect in the case is Lumka’s boyfriend and Nasiphi’s stepdad.
Now the mother is in hiding after police handcuffed her pretending she was being arrested so that they could rescue her from the angry residents baying for her blood. The boyfriend was nowhere to be seen.
Scrolla.Africa team traced the mother of the deceased and spoke to her from her hiding place.
“My daughter told me the shocking news that my boyfriend raped her in November. While confused and disturbed by what she told me, she committed suicide,” said Lumka.
She said on Monday, her daughter demanded that the boyfriend of 13 years with whom they had an eight-year-old daughter leave the house. “She told me that every time she sees him, it brings fresh memories and trauma of the rape ordeal she went through.”
“I packed his stuff and he left on Monday,” said Lumka.
She said on Tuesday she had arranged to counsel her daughter. “I went to work to ask for days off as I had to attend to her. While I was at work, I tried to call her many times and she was not picking up.”
The last call was when a neighbour friend picked up and told me my daughter had taken poison and she has been rushed to the local Masakhane Clinic. She was immediately transferred to Helen Josephs where she died on Thursday.
Lumka said what bothers her the most is the fact that she cannot mourn her daughter at a home where she used to stay. “I am not at home on a mattress to light candles for her.
“What if her spirit comes home and finds that the house is locked? Can residents allow me to mourn my daughter and let the police do their job,” asked Lumka while holding up tears.
She said she doesn’t know where her boyfriend is. “I don’t want to be in a relationship with him anymore,” she said.
