Family demands justice for Westenburg boy (16) who was kidnapped and raped
According to the boy's parents, he failed to return home after visiting the Westenburg swimming pool on Sunday, 8 September.
POLOKWANE –Â AÂ man appeared in the Polokwane Magistrate’s Court on Monday, on charges of kidnapping and rape after a 16-year-old boy from Westenburg went missing for two days. According to the boy’s parents, he failed to return home after visiting the Westenburg swimming pool on Sunday, 8 September.
Not having returned by the next morning, they opened a missing person’s case with the local police.
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“My husband went around the community asking all my son’s friends about his whereabouts and no one had seen him.
The boy eventually returned the Tuesday afternoon, visibly distraught according to his mother. “On closer inspection, we realised he had been beaten and he looked bruised. Initially, he didn’t want to talk, but we pressurised him and that’s when he told us he had been raped. Our son had been taken from the swimming pool by a man he thought was a friend.”
In the meantime, they took their son for counselling. The accused in the matter was eventually pinpointed after the boy’s father went around the community looking for a man by the name his son had given him. The police were called and the man was arrested and taken into custody.
The couple says they only want justice – not only for their son but also for other possible victims. Westenburg Police Spokesperson Const David Nkuna confirmed the suspect’s appearance in court.
The man remains in custody and the case was postponed to Wednesday, 9 October.
