Nearly three months after his genitals were severed in a gruesome attack, a six-year-old child from the Blue Skye informal settlement in Boksburg, east of Johannesburg, is still in hospital.

This was confirmed by Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital spokesperson Tabudi Madisha.

Efforts to get updates on his condition have, however, proven unsuccessful, as the hospital did not want to disclose any information without parental consent.

The Boksburg Advertiser has not been able to contact his parents. The boy went missing on February 28 and was later found with his genitals cut off in a ditch next to Trichardts Road in Cason.

He was taken to Tambo Memorial Hospital before being transferred to the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital.

The Boksburg police are investigating a case of attempted murder. No arrests have been made.

The case was categorised as an occult-related crime, so the SAPS’ Occult Crime Unit has been engaged.