“Our sorrow is deep and bitter”- Family of 13-year-old rape victim in Dobsonville pleads for justice

A prominent businessman has been arrested for allegedly drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl after luring her to his back room in Dobsonville, Soweto.

The incident occurred in the evening hours of Good Friday in Ntlhailane street.

Guardian Report News spoke to the parents, who were wrought with guilt over what has transpired

The father, whose identity is being withheld to protect the girl, explains
what happened.

He says the victim had gone to hang out with a friend, when the alleged perpetrator offered her a drink through a friend.

” She then gave my daughter’s friend a drink and instructed her not to drink it. That’s how my daughter ended up being drugged.”

“She had been repeatedly raped and was badly hurt, bleeding from between her legs.”

Meanwhile, some community members say they are outraged following the incident.

“It is not a good thing for a man to rape a young person, a young girl, a little girl,” says one community member.

“We want to stand up as women and say enough is enough. We have had enough of this rape going on and on and nothing has been done,” says another community member.

“We need to get together and fight this crime because It’s now a pandemic. We don’t know what’s going on,” adds another one.

The family says it seems like this may have been a plan and that the victim was targeted.

The 58-year-old suspect is expected to make his second appearance before the Roodepoort court on Tuesday, April 14.