South Africa:Durban police are looking for the parents of the disturbed, mystery 'Bongani', Joe Humphreysreports.
Police in Durban have begun searching for the parents of a teenaged boy who was abducted and held captive in a dark room - allegedly as a sex slave - for the past 13 years.
The boy, estimated today to be roughly 18 years of age, was said to be emotionally disturbed, and to be displaying the characteristics of a seven-year-old child.
Known only as "Bongani", the youth was found last week locked up in an unlit room in a house in Merewent in the coastal city of Durban.
A 44-year-old man who was allegedly with him at the time has been arrested on a charge of indecent assault.
Police said further charges may be proffered.
Speaking yesterday for the first time about his ordeal in what he called "the funny house", Bongani said: "I never had a dog or friends. . . I couldn't tell anyone what was happening in the funny house because my boss would get angry." He recalled being taken to a shopping centre and to the movies "when I was smaller". More recently, he said, he watched "shooting programmes" on television.
"I like Takalani Sesame [a South African version of Sesame Street] with the kids on the school bus. . . I want to go to school one day," he told Durban's Daily News.
Senior Supt Phindile Radebe said police had established that the boy came from a particular district in the city. However, she told The Irish Times: "It will be difficult to locate his parents. If someone comes forward it will be a long process because we must go through DNA-testing and other checks."
Supt Radebe added: "We are doing everything for him. He is getting counselling and we also are doing medical examinations."
Social workers linked to the police service have built up a relationship of trust with the youth since his release.
Arlene Muller, one of the care workers, said: "He has been severely traumatised and now we have started a massive search for his family.
"There must be a parent somewhere crying out for their missing child and hoping that one day he would return."
It is understood the boy was abducted about 1994 at the age of five, and was sexually abused while in captivity.
In interviews, he has displayed a basic knowledge of Zulu and a little English. He said he didn't know when his birthday was. Nor was he aware of whether his parents were alive.
Ms Muller said there had been some improvement in the youth's condition since his discovery. "Seeing him smile is such a reward for us. When we first saw him, his body was slanted and now he is standing up straight. I'm so proud of him and my only prayer is to find his family." She added that observing his physical condition initially, "he obviously was locked up in the dark for a long time".
Bongani's ordeal ended when neighbours alerted police to screams coming from the house, which had been tightly secured and protected by burglar bars.