Cape Town - "He would close her mouth when she tried to scream and told her he would kill me and that she won’t have a mommy anymore if she ever said anything to me.”
This is only half of what an 8-year-old girl from Philippi had to endure while being raped by her mother’s ex-boyfriend.
The Grade 2 learner would later learn she also contracted HIV from the man she once trusted, and now has to take ARVs for the rest of her life.
The girl’s mom, 30, decided to open up about her daughter’s rape, after the man from whom she contracted HIV walked around freely for months after the girl was violated.
The mother says she found out that her daughter had been sexually assaulted in January, before school opened. “Just as I was about to bath her, she said ‘mommy, I have something on my vagina’. When I looked I saw a lot of warts on the outside and inside of her private parts.”
The mother further explained that she learnt through doctors that her daughter was raped and when visiting Red Cross and undergoing tests, that the little girl is also HIV positive.
“The only other person I knew who was HIV positive was my boyfriend at the time. I asked her if it was him, she was too scared to talk.
“I learnt through one of her friends it happened more than three times, while I was out looking for a job and during school holidays.
“My daughter afterwards said it was him, but she was too scared to talk because he said he would kill me.”
When confronted, the man denied it and allegedly called the child a liar.
“I left him on the spot and reported him. Two weeks later, after we came from hospital he was arrested.”
However, things didn’t go as smoothly as the mom imagined.
She said the case just went quiet for months while no one had answers, and she later learnt that the ex was walking around freely.
“My boss gave me private investigator Desmond Finnis’s contact number in July. He immediately stirred the pot and caused a fire under the investigating officer.
“Mr Finnis has been helping me for free, I am so thankful to him, especially because it’s been so difficult.
“It’s a really traumatising experience, I am taking depression pills and my daughter, ARVs.
“That man who called my daughter a liar messed up her whole life, her future. She deserves justice and to know it’s not her fault. I want him to go to jail so she can see he’s a bad person.”
Finnis said when he received the call from the mom, he felt he needed to help her.
“I could hear the distress in her voice, so I started investigating. I learnt the suspect was charged on January 31 and appeared in court on February 1. Then miraculously the matter was struck off the court roll, referred to the prosecutor for a decision.
“After making contact with the head of detectives at Mitchells Plain and the chief prosecutor of Wynberg Court, the decision was made to hand the docket over to a new prosecutor.
“We just hope this is the start of a positive outcome for this family.”
Police spokesperson, FC van Wyk, confirmed a rape case was opened at Philippi East SAPS on January 31.
“The case was transferred to Nyanga FCS for further investigation. A 30-year-old suspect was arrested in this matter. The case has been remanded until August 7 at Wynberg Court.”