OWN CORRESPONDENT with AFRICA EYE NEWS SERVICE and AFP, Johannesburg | Wednesday
IN two separate rape cases, an Mpumalanga man has been arrested for raping his eight-year-old daughter for the past two weeks, while a pregnant girl who was raped by Angolan government soldiers at the weekend has died from her injuries.
The man from KwaMhlanga, north of Witbank, was arrested after the child told her mother on what had happened.
Police said the alleged rape began in the house on September 16 and continued until the mother questioned her daughter about her change in behaviour.
The mother took her daughter to the police station and reported the matter. The child was examined by a doctor who confirmed she had been penetrated, and the man was arrested and will appear in court soon on a rape charge.
In Luanda, a girl identified only as Ana bled to death at her home after being gang-raped and assaulted by a group of government soldiers near the barracks in the shanty town of Induve.
Ana, who was younger than 20, had received no medical attention, the Roman Catholic radio network said. Witnesses said she was beaten after being raped inside the barracks.
“We could not save her, despite all our efforts,” one of Ana’s relatives said.
Residents in Induve forced one of the barracks’ commanders to identify her rapists, but no court proceedings had begun, one witness said.
“Ana had identified certain soldiers who had raped her, and we forced the commander to present these men to the neighborhood so that they would be known by the people and brought before a court,” one witness said.
“The commander was present when Ana, who was bleeding heavily, recognized her attackers,” the witness said.