Bail denied for man accused of raping his 2-year-old niece

The Pretoria North Magistrate’s Court has denied bail to a Soshanguve man accused of raping his two-year-old niece. The 27-year-old allegedly raped the child late last month during load-shedding.

Soshanguve man accused of raping two-year-old niece denied bail

The victim’s mother, who is an elder sister to the accused, had gone to her parental home after their mother was hospitalised. The accused took the child to his bedroom while the mother was washing dishes and allegedly sexually molested her.

A doctor confirmed the toddler had been violated and was put on antibiotics and ARVs to avoid further infections.

A two-week-long matter finally brought to finality. The mother of the child had to take the stand in a bid to keep her half-brother behind bars. She testified that she was disturbed by a crying child while washing dishes. She rushed to the bedroom after hearing the screams and discovered the child had been severely injured.

The accused however disputes this version of events. He claims the toddler’s injuries were inflicted by her mother while examining her. He argued he has no previous convictions and pleaded for bail as he suffers from asthma.
However, Magistrate Tshepo Mokome found his case warranted no exceptional circumstances. “I cannot find that there are exceptional circumstances in this matter which in the interest of justice permit the release of the accused person on bail. Consequently, I make the following order, and the bail application is dismissed.”

Interference with investigations

Mokome adds that he was not worried about the accused interfering with investigations as they were almost concluded, but that other factors were at play.

He explains, “But what is concerning is the factor outlined in section 60(4)(c) the accused hostility towards the complainant as testified to, the accused knowledge of the complainant and the victim. I’ve indicated that they are related by consanguinity and the factor outlined in section 60 (4)(E) whether the release of the accused on bail may undermine public order or public peace.”

A bitter-sweet moment for the victim’s mother, the matter has since divided the family. She previously opened numerous GBV-related cases against the accused but was allegedly coerced into dropping the charges by their mother who denied her son had raped the toddler after consulting a sangoma.

“It has been a tough month, the family is divided now but at least we now have hope in the justice system, in the future to say justice will be served for baby B. So I am just so overwhelmed,” says the mother.

‘In and out of hospital’ 

She says the baby is struggling to heal and has been in and out of the hospital since the incident. “I can say the mother is trying hard to be strong for her kids, but you can see she is not coping. As for the baby, she is not doing well because on numerous occasions after the incident we’ve had to rush her to the emergency to get medical care. They are not doing well, not forgetting the older brother as well.”

The community of Soshanguve petitioned for the accused to remain behind bars. The South African National Civic Organisation’s (SANCO), Fire Mashao, says the government needs to step up as the community has done its part.

“The community is coming to the party. We are just asking the government itself to come to the party as well to make sure that they take this GBV seriously so that the accused or perpetrators can see that we are serious about this GBV as the government,” adds Mashao.

Lack of support for victims from law enforcement agencies under the spotlight

The matter will be back in court on December 13^th.