The Sunday News
Lungile Tshuma and Mncedisi Buhali
A SIX-YEAR-OLD girl from Entumbane was stolen from her sleeping mother’s bedside on Friday night before being raped and dumped at a nearby bush.
The child was found where she was dumped at a bush near Zothile Shops yesterday morning.
Confirming the incident, a sister to the girl’s mother (name withheld) said the family only realised in the morning that the child was missing.
The daring rapist reportedly piled three bricks and stood on them for extra height before forcing the bedroom window’s security bars wide open and taking the child through the same window.
Fear gripped residents who embarked on a search for the child.
The visibly shocked and tormented aunt said: “The child was kidnapped at around 4am. We realised that the girl was missing when our neighbour’s dog barked for a long time and when we woke up, the window was broken into and the person managed to open the window and take the child.
“We are all in shock and still trying to understand the motive behind such a devilish act. She was bleeding and can’t even stand on her own or take a step. What pains us most is that we don’t even know whether the person used protection. There are people whom we are suspecting but we hope that at the end of the day justice will take place. It is a clear sign that the person is after something, he had to leave a kitchen knife by the gate. Whoever did this will pay for it.”
When a Sunday News crew arrived at the house yesterday, residents were still trickling in to comfort the family. Residents said the incident left them speechless and unsettled.
“When I woke up in the morning I heard that my neighbour’s child was missing. I rushed to the house and what I found there was very painful. The girl’s mother was crying and she seemed to be in so much pain,” one woman said.
Another neighbour, Mrs Sithenjisiwe Gumbo, said the incident shocked all and sundry but challenged police officers to bring the perpetrator to book.
“How can a person do such a cruel thing to a child? If the person wanted something or revenge, he should not have done that to the child. I went there, but I was pained looking at that innocent child in pain and she could not even stand properly. She is a lovely girl who is very friendly but all that is going to be blown away by this incident and I think this incident is going to change the whole of her life,” said Mrs Gumbo.
Bulawayo police spokesperson Inspector Mandlenkosi Moyo was yet to get back to us at the time of going to print.
