Times Of Swaziland: ATTEMPTED RAPE OF MINORS AT MALINDZA RECEPTION CENTRE

ATTEMPTED RAPE OF MINORS AT MALINDZA RECEPTION CENTRE
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Thokozani Mamba on 07/02/2022 08:33:00


SITEKI – A fight ensued at Malindza Reception Centre, which houses refugees,
after one of the males allegedly attempted to rape two minors.
The man is suspected to have imbibed in marula brew prior to the incident. The
young girls, who were sleeping on the floor in one of the houses at the camp,
together with their three-year-old brother are aged 13 and 14. Worth mentioning
is that, about 400 foreigners reside in the camp and their countries of origin
are mainly Rwanda, South Sudan, Somalia, Burundi and Ethiopia, to mention a few.
According to the mother of the girls, who happens to also be a pastor, they were
asleep at around 11pm when the incident occurred. The woman, *Daphne, claimed
that together with her husband, they were awoken by screams from the girls who
were sleeping on the floor.
She said when they rushed out of bed, they were met by a half-naked man inside
the room. The mother of the girls said they raised the alarm. The man, who is
known in the camp, stays in one of the houses. She said her husband tried to
grab him but he fell and stabbed the three-year-old son while attempting to
flee. However, there were attempts to try to catch the man. The three-year-old
son sustained a minor bruise near the head.
Door
Daphne said their room’s door handle had broken, which was why the man had
easy access to the room. She added that her children were still traumatised and
this was evident in that they were scared to sleep in fear of the unknown. “My
children are still traumatised and we are living in an unsafe environment. The
man entered the room at around 11pm and headed straight for the children who
slept on the floor. We heard screams and when we tried to ascertain what was
happening, the man who speaks one of my languages tried to flee but fell as he
was suspected to have drunk marula brew. I could smell the strong stench from
his breath,” she claimed.
Police
Daphne said she reported the matter to the Mpaka Police Station on Saturday
morning and the police officers promised to come and check them at the camp. She
said the police had not yet visited the camp by yesterday to investigate the
matter. “When I got there, they wrote something on a piece of paper and told
me that they would come and check on me but up until today (yesterday), they
haven’t checked on us. We are afraid and living in fear with my children,”
Daphne said. She added that she had called the Ministry of Home Affairs to
request its intervention on this matter. “We were promised that officials
would be dispatched to the camp and investigations be undertaken,” she added.
She said she called the ministry and they promised to attend to the matter.
“We don’t have peace at the camp. We were attacked by this man who wanted to
rape my daughters and my son was stabbed in the process. We are living in fear
because we don’t know whether the man would attack us again,” Daphne said.
Matter
However, Deputy Police Information and Communications Officer Inspector Nosipho
Mnguni said the matter had not yet been reported. “We do not have a report of
any attempted rape from the refugee camp,” she said. Meanwhile, last month, a
27-year-old Mozambican national appeared before Siteki Senior Magistrate Donald
Mavuso charged with the rape of a minor aged 11. Jaivas Edu Shongo of Mhlumeni
area under Chief Mlimi Maziya was charged for contravening Section 33 (1) as
read with Section 3 (2) and Section 3 (9) (b) of the Sexual Offences and
Domestic Violence (SODV) Act No. 15/2018 in that upon or about January 22, 2022
and at or near Mhlumeni area in the Lubombo Region, the said accused person did
commit the offence of rape by having an unlawful sexual act with a female minor
aged 11.
The rape was accompanied by aggravating factors as envisaged by Section 185 bis
of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act No.67, 1938 as amended that the
accused person did not use a condom thus exposing the survivor to the risk of
contracting sexual transmitted infections such as HIV/AIDS. The accused person
used threats of violence to induce submission to the victim and that in the
event of conviction; the particulars would be included in the national register
for sex offenders.