He is complaining about the justice system saying that they are operating on two rape cases involving child suspects, the family of a girl who is said to have suffered the same fate last year as the case was dropped last week.
In this incident, which is said to have happened in Zwelibomvu KwaNdengezi, on September 4 last year, a three-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a 12-year-old suspect.
It turned out that the victim’s family heard about the incident on the day it was said to have happened. It is said that the victim told a relative that he was injured in his private part because the suspect, who is said to have called him a name, inserted his private part into his.
It turned out that the suspect, who had been hiding it from his family, confessed when asked about the incident, and the case was finally opened because the family went to the Thuthuzela center in Chatsworth.
The father of the fighter, who will not be revealed to protect him, said It is a country that the last time he saw the investigator’s name was when a message was sent about who was in charge of the case.
“He has never called me, I have never seen him, I have never heard anything from him as an investigator,” said the victim’s father.
He said what he expected was for the investigator to approach them as the victim’s parents, and tell them how the case would proceed.
“I was surprised when I was sent an sms saying that the case has been withdrawn. I felt tired and saw that the law does not help me as the parent of the victim, I thought of others who are in the same situation as me,” he said.
He said that when he raised the issue, there was a police officer from KwaNdengezi who told him that although the crime was committed by a person under the age of 18, there is still an opportunity for the suspect to be prosecuted.
“He said that although he is a child, when the investigation is carried out, it is checked whether he knows what he was doing that it is not appropriate. If he knows, the chances of it being a tangible crime are high,” said the victim’s father.
He said that the policeman gave an example that if the suspect did not say what he had done, that is one of the signs that shows that he fully understands that what he did was wrong.
He revealed that he does not believe that all of this has been taken care of in this case, and said that because of that, he sees the law doing things to victims of rape.
“Right now, the suspect is enjoying himself, everything is fun. I, on the other hand, have to take care of the child who is always scared, whose face changes when he sees the suspect passing by outside the house,” said the victim’s father.
He said that they have even changed the way the child plays, he said that most of the time he is playing indoors.
“If we are going to have a trip, which forces us to leave it, we ask for it in a house 400 kilometers away because we are afraid to leave it with the nearest neighbors.”
He also revealed that his daughter was an alert child but now she is always quiet, sometimes she just cries.
“Is this the life that the law enforcers want rape victims and their families to live? Why do we think that the law prioritizes the rights of the accused, and pushes the victims back?” he says like this.
KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda said investigators from the Family Violence Child Protection and Sexual Offenses (FCS) unit in Chatsworth are opening a case of rape following an incident where a girl (3) was allegedly raped on September 4 last year in Zwelibomvu.
“The case was withdrawn from court,” said Netshiunda.
