Ngwako Modjadji
When senior police officer Inspector X attached to Thohoyandou police station came home from work one day his two daughters expected him to give them an affectionate hug and the kisses he used to pamper them with. But police say their evening with their father turned out to be a nightmare for them when he raped each in turn in the absence of their mother.
The children, now aged 15 and 17, allege that their father had been raping them from 1991 until his arrest in December last year.
Residents of Thohoyandou in Limpopo, near Polokwane, said this week that cases of rape are common in the area. Sometimes, they added, the cases involve police officials.
Police alleged that Inspector X lured his children into his room at night, in the absence of his wife. A spokesman said the problem came to light when the children told their mother about the rapes. Their mother only alerted police after she found her husband having sex with one of their daughters.
”After raping them he would give them sweets, to keep mum,” police said.
Inspector X was granted R5 000 bail last month and went home his wife and children fled to a place of safety.
Child protection unit investigating officer Christopher Mokwevho confirmed this week that the accused’s new bail conditions include not interfering with state witnesses. He said the suspect is believed to have gone to Gauteng to stay with his uncle.
The children and their mother have since returned home.
Had the children reported the case a long time ago, said Mokwevho, the rapes could have be avoided: ”It took a long time before the children could spill the beans.”
The case will be heard in a fortnight. A representative for Provincial Police Commissioner Calvin Sengani, Marina van der Waldt, said if the police officer is found guilty ”harsh steps will be taken against him”.
When the Mail & Guardian visited the village, the children were playing with friends. They seemed to have put the ordeal behind them, but they said they felt they had lost their self-worth because they no longer look good in the eyes of the community.
Fiona Nicholson, programme director of the Thohoyandou Victim Empowerment Trust, which runs a clinic in Tshiledzini hospital, said that often police fail to investigate cases because some involve their colleagues. One of the problems, she said, is that departmental heads are reluctant to report to their superiors the truth of what is happening on the ground. Sometimes, she said, evidence disappears.