Image: iStock
An 18-year-old has been arrested and charged with statutory rape after he allegedly impregnated a 12-year-old girl from Petsana near Reitz.
Police spokesperson Warrant Officer, Mmako Mophiring, said the teen, who appeared before the Reitz Magistrate’s Court on Monday, would be charged as an adult.
Mophiring said on 2 June, the mother of the young girl started to grow increasingly concerned about her daughter’s well-being and suspected she might be pregnant.
ALSO READ: Concern over increase in rape cases in KZN schools
“This date marked the onset of her growing apprehension and the beginning of her efforts to understand and address her daughter’s health condition,” he said.
After taking her for an examination and test, it was established that the young girl was in fact with child. She was 12 years old at the time.
The mother told police she did not report the incident immediately to the authorities, as she thought the legal proceedings around it would deteriorate her daughter’s health conditions.
Mophiring said the mother told police her daughter had consensually slept with the suspect, even though she could not remember the exact date.
“The suspect was traced on Saturday and was arrested,” Mophiring said. He added the teen was kept in police custody before his court appearance on Monday.
According to the World Population Review site, South Africa is among the rape capitals of the world.
In his latest crime stats release, Minister of Police Bheki Cele revealed of the 2 168 rape cases reported in the first quarter this year, 767 of the victims were youths.
While the recent rape statistics showed a decrease in the number of rape cases, a gender-based violence activist, Mpho Thethani, said the decrease actually proved a disturbing trend in law enforcement.
ALSO READ: South Africa grapples with increasing rape and abuse cases
“More people are not coming forward to report these cases.
“I’m not saying we would like to see an increase, but we need to understand that based on the history of convictions, the less convictions we have, the less people are likely to report because they don’t trust the system,” Thethani said.
Additional reporting by Reitumetse Makwea