Girl (9) was kept home from school and allegedly raped by her stepfather

Man (36) arrested and released on R1 500 bail

- MONISHKA GOVENDER [e-mail]

WHEN a man called Reaction Unit South Africa (Rusa) and reported his 9-year-old stepdaughter missing, he did not expect police to pounce on him after the child said she had run away because he had allegedly raped her.

Rusa head, Prem Balram, said the child had run away from home on August 4, after her stepfather had allegedly raped her earlier that morning, while her maternal grandmother was at home.

He said at 2pm on the same day, they received a call from the stepfather that he could not find the child.

"When we reached the home and interviewed the stepfather, who was in crutches, he said his stepdaughter had gone to use the outside toilet and had been looking for her for past two hours.

"We went to check if it was a pit toilet because she could have fallen through, but that was not the case," said Balram.

He said he then dispatched a team of 20 officers to search for the young girl.

"We also sent paramedics, in case she was hurt. We searched bushes and the roads. We saw a school on the other side of the bush. We asked about the girl and they said they last saw her in school on August 1. She had not gone to school on that Monday, because she was 'sick'," said Balram.

He said Rusa then circulated a missing person's poster with the 9-year-old's picture.

"After 15 minutes, we got four calls telling us that the girl was at her aunt's house in a different area. When we got to the house, we found the girl with her aunt.

"We told the aunt that it was illegal to take the child without her parents' permission. She then responded that her niece had called her to say she had been raped by her stepfather."