Botho Molosankwe
A12-year-old Swanneville girl is dead and a 15-year-old Kagiso boy can hardly open his eyes, his lips are swollen and his body is full of bruises.
In separate incidents, the two were beaten by their uncles, who claimed they were disciplining them.
In the first instance, police were informed when the girl died at Leratong Hospital shortly after she had been admitted.
Police stumbled across the second case by accident. They had gone to the 15-year-old’s home to arrest his uncle for another matter when they saw him.
These two cases have prompted the station commander of the Kagiso police station, Brigadier Sipho Ngubane, to involve Childline, People Opposing Women Abuse, the community police forum, religious organisations and the Mogale City municipality.
They will all go to the home of Angela Nyathi, 12, for her memorial service tomorrow and later go to the hall, where the organisations will talk about abuse and try to open the community’s eyes about the horrors of child abuse.
On Thursday, Angela’s 22-year-old uncle is alleged to have taken her to a field and mercilessly beaten her with a stick. Her crime? Being naughty and allegedly refusing to listen to him when he told her not to play with some of her friends in the neighbourhood, said Sibiya.
After the beating, he dropped her off at home and made off after seeing how seriously injured she was, according to the policeman.
“One of the relatives who saw Angela’s serious injuries took her to Leratong Hospital. However, when the hospital staff got to her, they realised she was already dead. She had bruises all over her body,” Sibiya said.
Police officers went to the girl’s home, where her mother tried to sweep the events under the carpet, according to Sibiya.
“She said Angela was beaten by unknown people and was then brought home by Good Samaritans who found her lying injured in the veld.
“However, Angela’s younger brother is the one who told the police that the uncle took her to the veld to discipline her and beat her up,” Sibiya said.
The uncle was arrested.
Angela will be buried on Thursday.
In the second incident yesterday, police officers, acting on a tip-off from the community, arrived at a house in Kagiso looking for a man believed to be a drug dealer, only to find a 15-year-old boy beaten to a pulp, said Sibiya.
The boy could hardly open his swollen eyes. His elbows and back were grazed and his mouth was swollen.
The boy was shaking from pain, walked with difficulty and could not raise his right hand.
Officers took him to the police station, where they gave him food and took a statement. He allegedly told them that his uncle had beaten him with fists and bricks after he had found him playing with a radio component.
It was not known where the uncle was, and police were still looking for him.