'They wanted to cut off my son's manhood'

“They wanted to cut his manhood off,” said the mother of a nine-year-old boy. This was apparently to “punish” him for allegedly raping a four-year-old girl. The boy was tortured and beaten by a man who is presumably a friend or relative of the young girl’s parents.

The dramatic episode started last Wednesday, when the mother received a call from her own mother, who was looking after the children. She rushed home to find out what the fracas was all about.

“When I arrived home, I was told that my son had raped a four-year-old toddler. I asked him and he denied this,” said the mother. The mother and grandmother found the fact that the boy could or would have done something like this hard to believe.

According to the mother, she went to the grandmother of the girl, trying to resolve the matter and to apologise, should there have been any misunderstanding. “She told me not to worry because it was just children playing,” she said.

The little girl apparently told her grandmother that she wanted to urinate, but she was feeling pain in her private parts. The grandmother asked her what had happened, and the girl said she had been hurt by the boy.

“On Thursday night, an unknown man came to my house with the grandmother and the uncle of the girl. The uncle said that they went to the doctor and the doctor said it was not the first time that these incidents happened,” said the boy’s mother.

The unknown man then proceeded to interrogate the young boy. During this interrogation, a zinc basin was filled with cold water. The boy was stripped naked and forced to sit inside the tub. “They started beating him with a belt. The man wanted to cut off his (the boy’s) manhood, using pliers,” said the mother. “It was painful to watch. I called my mother and told her that she should expect the dead body of her grandson in the morning.”

She said the torturing incident started at around 22:00 and lasted for about 90 minutes. “The man said this was just the beginning and he would come every day to discipline him,” said the mother. “I went again to the house (of the girl) with my mother to ask for forgiveness,” she continued. She also showed her mother the bathtub filled with water, the pliers and the belt that was used to torture her grandson.

The family later decided to open a case of assault at the Vuwani police station. “The police told me that the girl was not raped, she was just suffering from a urinal problem,” the mother said.

The police confirmed on Wednesday that a 21-year-old suspect had been arrested in connection with the assault on the boy and appeared in the Vuwani Magistrate's Court on 4 October. The case was postponed to 19 October. The man was released on warning. The rape allegations will also be investigated, the police said.

(The incident happened in the Vuwani area, but to protect the identity of the children involved, the village where the families live was not mentioned.)

News - Date: 08 October 2021

Maanda Bele

Maanda  Bele, born and raised in Nzhelele Siloam, studied journalism at the Tshwane University of Technology.

He is passionate about current news and international affairs.

He worked as part of the Zoutnet team as an intern in 2017.

He is currently a freelance journalist specialising in news from the Vhembe district.

Email: [email protected]