A South African Police Service (SAPS) vehicle A four-year-old girl has been allegedly raped and murdered in Taung in South Africa’s North West province. File photo: Leon Lestrade. African News Agency/ANA.
RUSTENBURG, May 20 (ANA) - A four-year-old girl has been found allegedly raped and murdered in Kgomotso near Taung in the North West province, police said on Thursday.
The child was found dead on Sunday after she was reported missing on Saturday, police spokeswoman Lieutenant-Colonel Amanda Funani said in a statement.
She said the girl's 32-year-old mother had allegedly left her at a friend’s place with six other children before going to a local tavern.
"It is alleged that the mother came back drunk in the early hours of Saturday morning ... accompanied by two friends. The mother, who found the children sleeping, apparently slept in her friend’s room,“ Funani said.
"She woke up in the morning and realised that the girl was missing. As a result, she went to her residential place to look for the girl, but did not find her. A missing person enquiry was ultimately reported on Saturday.“
A search was conducted in the area and the dead child was found naked in some bushes, her clothes next to her.
"Preliminary investigation revealed that the young girl was allegedly raped and strangled to death," Funani said.
In a separate incident, a 47-year-old man accused of kidnapping and murdering his two-year-old daughter appeared in the Klerksdorp magistrate's court on Wednesday.
The case was postponed to May 26 for further investigations and a bail application, which the state would oppose, National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesman in North West Henry Mamothame said.
The man allegedly went to his girlfriend’s home in Jouberton on May 13 and took their daughter without the consent of the mother who was in hospital at the time. Family members who were taking care of the child did not object as the father would often take the child with him when he visited the mother’s house.
The woman was discharged from hospital on May 14 and went to search for the child with the help of relatives, without luck. The following day, she lodged a case of a missing person at the Jouberton police station.
The father was arrested for kidnapping on Sunday, after failing to tell the police the whereabouts of the child.
His neighbours later found her body hidden in the ceiling of his house after doing a search to determine the source of a bad smell. Police were informed and slapped an additional charge of murder against the man.
– African News Agency (ANA)