A nine-year-old boy who can barely walk after he was viciously raped was allegedly turned away by police on two occasions – and his sister claims that, at one police station, they were told the child might be lying.
A furious family friend said he could not believe the callous attitude at both the Kwazakhele and New Brighton police stations following the little boy’s horrific ordeal.
Ayanda Billie, 43, said the child, whose parents are both dead – his mother died years ago from an illness and the father last year in Cape Town – was only helped after he posted an angry rant on Facebook and was put in touch with a woman who works at a victim support centre.
“A Facebook friend tagged her mother, who is a social worker, [on the Facebook post],” Billie, who had been friends with the boy’s parents, said.
“She then contacted me to come to the White Doors Victims Unit, where she assisted us in opening a case at the New Brighton police station.”
The young boy who, according to family and friends, was raped repeatedly last year – allegedly by a man who lives not far from their Kwazakhele home – told his sister the acts had started up again last week.
On Wednesday, the child’s 22-year-old sister – who is his primary caregiver – said she had been keeping an eye on the situation following last year’s incidents but had not gone to the police as her grandmother had done so at the time – to no avail.
She had hoped the horrific abuse was over.
It was clear on Wednesday that the youngster was in immense pain.
The slender child, who stoops as he walks and drags his legs in pain, cannot be named by law.
His sister said the little boy has not talked much since the weekend, appears confused and is unable to keep food down.
The boy’s 89-year-old grandmother, with whom he lived last year, has moved to Johannesburg, where she is staying with another relative due to fragility and old age.
Billie said he had been told by the child’s sister – who had only recently moved into her grandmother’s home to look after her brother – that the family had allegedly been turned away at the Kwazakhele police station on Saturday when they tried to report the matter.
“I don’t know the exact details of last year’s incidents.
“As far as I’m aware, the grandmother had reported it – but, unfortunately, she suffers from memory loss.
“The rapes have broken him – his behaviour has changed and even the way he walks – you would think he is a cripple,” Billie said.
On Wednesday, the alleged rapist was standing a few metres from the boy’s home.
The boy disclosed last week’s rapes to his sister after she insisted on Friday that he tell her why he had been crying nonstop and vomiting.
“My brother told me on Friday that he had been raped again by this man on Monday and Tuesday on his way back home from school,” she said.
“This man would lure my brother into a burnt-down house where he lives with money or sweets, then close the door behind him and [assault him],” she said.
The emotional woman said her little brother had refused to go to school for the rest of the week.
She said her brother had gone with the man because he had threatened to stab the child before and he felt helpless as the area they lived in was fairly quiet.
“I am worried for our safety because a family friend [who lives with them] is hardly at home because of work.”
She said her brother had told her of last year’s incidents earlier this year, which had put her on high alert.
“I noticed this man hanging around our street a lot more – he would walk past the house, almost peeping over the front yard wall and then walk away.
“On Saturday morning, when I was leaving the house he was standing at the corner.
“I hid behind a wall to watch what he would do and he walked up to the house and stood for a while, looking at our front door, and then walked away.
“That’s when my cousin and I took my brother to the Kwazakhele police station, where they told us my brother was lying because he was here last year with my grandmother.
“I am concerned about his mental state, the way he walks, and his grades worry me because they have dropped drastically.”
The woman said that at the New Brighton police station, where they had gone to lay a complaint on Tuesday, they had been sent away again, with a policeman allegedly saying they could not be helped as they did not have any evidence the rapes had occurred.
On Monday, the sister had taken her brother to a private doctor but after being told police needed evidence, she and Billie took the youngster to Dora Nginza Hospital’s Thuthuzela Care Centre.
Both Billie and the sister said a doctor had confirmed the rape and that the boy had been injured as a result.
Thuthuzela Care Centre head advocate Linda le Roux said: “One of the nurses on duty confirmed that the boy came in with a referral letter and showed positive signs of assault,” Le Roux said.
“The fact that he was turned away at the police stations is unacceptable because everyone knows what the protocol is and that for me is the biggest problem.
“Rape is a time-sensitive case and the body is the crime scene – if this is reported a week later, that child runs the risk of infections and people can die from not seeking medical help sooner.”
Le Roux said she would be following up the matter.
White Doors Victim’s Unit Kwazakhele project manager Nomonde Mselane, 42, said she had been affected by the boy’s story after she had been tagged on Billie’s post.
“He is nine, this wasn’t even supposed to be on social media, he was supposed to get the services he needed immediately and I knew I had to help.
“I apologised to the family for the treatment they received and we managed to open a case for the boy,” she said.
Police spokesperson Andre Beetge confirmed that a case had been opened on Wednesday, but he was unable to comment on the allegations that police had refused to help the boy and his sister.
“But we will investigate [these complaints] and work with the complainant,” he said.
“If there are any complaints where they were not helped professionally by police, we will definitely address that,” Beetge said.