Girl (4) allegedly raped at Izingolweni crèche
The four-year-old's grandmother said what she saw when she took off the little girl's underwear left her traumatised.
Blood-stained underwear is what an Izingolweni grandmother found when undressing her granddaughter after crèche last week.
The grandmother believes that her four-year-old granddaughter was raped.
She said what she saw when she took off the little girl’s underwear traumatised her for life.
She explained that she always walks her granddaughter to her school transport at 06.30 every day and waits for her outside the gate just before 15:00.
However, last Monday was different.
“After the scholar transport dropped her off, what we found when undressing her was disturbing. Her underwear was blood red. When we called the crèche, they told us that when they saw drops of blood on her underwear, they assumed that she had a sore and washed it,” she said.
She added: “That troubled us because we asked them if they saw that the child was bleeding, why did they not call her parents? We then called the scholar transport driver, who told us he did not notice anything wrong with the little girl and drove us to the clinic.”
The grandma said when they explained the situation, healthcare workers examined the four-year-old, took her underwear as evidence and called the police.
According to police, Port Shepstone Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) has opened an enquiry after it was alleged that a four-year-old child was raped in Ezinqoleni.
“The child will be referred to a forensic social worker. No one has been arrested,” said police.
The grandmother said it’s the crèche’s negligence, saying they sign up their children for daycare because they assume they would be safe and cared for.
“It is sad because I never leave my granddaughter with just anyone. I trusted them with my baby. I am now struggling to sleep. I find myself waking up in the middle of the night with my heart beating fast. And, thinking about how the person who did this is still running freely does not help my high blood pressure,” she said.
When the Fever visited the creche on Tuesday, it was locked.
The owners of the crèche said they were advised not to comment as the case was being handled by police.
Meanwhile, Ward 32 councillor Ntombifuthi Gcaba urged the crèche to give useful information to the police that could lead to arrests.
Gcaba said this was the first time something of this nature had happened in the area.
“We are very disheartened about this incident. What is scary is that the perpetrator could be watching us now from a distance because I believe that this rapist is among us in this community. We are here to condemn such incidents. Should the person be found, we hope the law will play its part and sentence them to life. We call on Ward 32 residents to stand up and assist the police in catching this criminal,” she said.
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