By Thabo Monyela
DAN VILLAGE-The 51-year-old man accused of raping a 13-year-old girl in Rhulani village, Dan village outside Tzaneen set to appear before the Ritavi Magistrate Court for bail application.
The rape accused has pleaded not guilty and denied the allegations of raping the minor during his previous court appearances.
Madida Mavungu alleged to have raped the minor girl in April 2023 after he assisted her to hide from her mother who wanted to reprimand her for returning home after the given curfew.
It is alleged that the suspect who stays at the same street with the minor’s home aided her to hide from her furious mother during the loadshedding period, after the mother stopped searching, he then swayed her to his house where he raped her.
According to the child’s confessions, after Madida sexually molested her, she then managed to flee his house and ran to the nearest guest house, where she found shelter for the night in a room that was not occupied.
It is said that the following day in the morning she returned home and never told her parents what made her not come back home the previous night.
The minor kept the alleged traumatic rape experience to herself for a period of a month and wanted to commit suicide, until she confided to her friend at school, who then informed her teachers and the school social workers.
The minor’s mother learned of this ordeal through the teachers and then proceeded to open a rape case with Ritavi police station against Madida.
After a wide search was carried out by community members and the Lelarama security company, the suspect was successfully apprehended from his hideout in Mokgoloboto village on April 29.
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