NELSPRUIT – An aunt who was found guilty of torturing her niece appeared in court for sentencing.
The aunt (39) appeared in the Nelspruit Regional Court on Friday on charges of child abuse and assault with the intent to do grievous bodily harm.
Magistrate Andre Geldenhuys postponed the sentencing as the Social Worker for Correctional Services was not ready with their pre-sentencing report.
The matter was postponed until May 12. The aunts name may not be disclosed, to protect the identity of the victim.
The girl was 10 years old when her aunt started torturing her physically and emotionally. The abuse started in 2009 and only ended in December 2011 when community members of the Mzolozi Trust eventually reported it to the police.
Geldenhuys had stated that the accused had lied in her testimony, claiming the community had concocted false allegations against her in order to claim her property. He said she had also claimed that the doctor had lied about the child’s injuries.
“I cannot find any truth in her testimony besides what coincides with the state’s evidence.”
She came to live with the aunt when her father died and her mother was unable to take care of her.
According to Geldenhuys, the aunt had forced her to clean and cook for her and her children. The charge sheet documented that she was forced to sleep naked on a cold floor with no bedding or blankets. She was also not allowed to go to school and the aunt had regularly beaten her with branches.
One day she forced the girl to climb down into a pit toilet to find a key she wanted. In doing so, the victim had to wade through faeces and urine.
The accused sometimes tied her up with chains and suspended her from the rafters, then beat her knees and legs with a rubber hammer. She had also forced the child to drink her own urine and eat her own faeces.
She would deny her food and when she did offer a meal, it had to be eaten from the aunt’s
night pot.
A witness at court told Lowvelder that the aunt’s own children had been well looked after and only the niece had been tortured and treated like a slave. A picture which was given in as evidence showed the girl naked with a chain around her neck and hands, reminiscent of a scene of the slave trade in the 1700s.
The medical examination of the victim was performed at Rob Ferreira Hospital on December 12, 2011, which Lowvelder had witnessed. The doctor had confirmed then that her fingers, toes and private parts had been pinched with pliers. On her neck, old scars with fresh bruises were visible and there were injuries to every single part of her body.
The accused remained in custody.
