A MUM will never forget 27 July.
This is the day her seven-year-old daughter was allegedly raped in Daveyton, Ekurhuleni.
The little girl from Zwakala Informal Settlement was attacked along with a six-year-old girl.
The day their lives changed
The seven-year-old's mum said her daughter and a friend went to church in the morning and spent most of the time indoors.
"They then went to a spaza shop around 3pm and that's when they met the perpetrator, who asked them to buy a cigarette for him, and they did.
"When they came back, he lured them to his place, a few kilometers away from where the kids live," she said.
The distraught mum said they searched for the kids from 4pm until midnight.
"We then went to Daveyton Police Station to open missing persons' cases. The community searched every household, but our kids were nowhere to be found," she said.
Getting the call
She said she and the mum of the other girl received a call from the cops on 28 July informing them their kids were brought to the police station.
"Cops came around 4am to collect me and the mum of the other kid and we went to the police station. When we arrived, we found the kids and noticed they couldn't walk properly. We spotted blood on their trousers," she said.
She said cops asked them not to question the kids and they had to move from Putfontein Police Station to Daveyton Police Station, where the missing persons' cases were opened.
"It was then that we learned that they were allegedly raped and needed medical assistance. The incident has traumatised me and my kid, who was admitted to Far East Hospital and later transferred to Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital due to severe injuries," she said.
The seven-year-old girl's dad blames himself for what happened.
He said:
"I spent hours with both children in the house after we came back from church and then gave them R1 each to buy sweets at the spaza shop. I'm heartbroken and hurt. I blame myself for giving the kids the money to buy sweets."
The mum of the six-year-old girl said the incident has caused immeasurable pain.
"The perpetrator has opened a wound that won't heal for us as parents and the kids. My daughter is lying at Far East Hospital because of this heartless man.
"My daughter wrote what happened in a diary. It's difficult to read the details because I'm so traumatised by what happened to these kids," she said.
Finding the perpetrator
A concerned community member, who asked not to be named, said they received a description of the suspect from someone who last saw the kids walk with him.
"We searched for and managed to locate him at his place. We searched his room and found blood stains and he confessed that he raped the kids the whole night and brought them back at 4am the next day.
"He states that he doesn't know what led him to rape the kids and he was sorry. We then took him to our area and the community allegedly assaulted him. He was stripped naked and his 4-5 had a piercing decorated with beads," he said.
Another resident said the suspect does not deserve to live.
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"He must thank cops for rescuing him when residents were assaulting him. Before he was taken away, he stated that he doesn't regret what he did and will continue doing it. He didn't show remorse for causing pain to the victims and their families," he said.
Police spokeswoman Captain Neldah Sekgobela said cases of kidnapping and rape were opened at Putfointen and transferred to Daveyton.
She said the suspect was rescued from angry residents and was rushed to hospital, where he's under police guard.
