SEVEN YOUNG men from a South African township near Johannesburg raped a mentally disabled girl whom they kept as a sex slave, a Johannesburg court has been told.
The horrific abuse suffered by the 17-year-old girl came to the authority’s attention on Wednesday after a video of the sexual attack was circulated by mobile phone and went viral on the internet.
The 10-minute video allegedly shows young men aged between 14 and 20 laughing and joking in a field as they take turns at sexually assaulting the girl who is said to have the mental age of a five-year- old. The perpetrators also allegedly ignore the victim’s pleas for the abuse to stop and callously offer her 20 cents after the violent attack.
After the video was brought to the police’s attention by Daily Sun newspaper reporters, a frantic search for the young woman began in Soweto. Police found her at a house in Braamfischerville in the company of a 37-year-old man and she was brought to Dobsonville police station. The man was also arrested at the scene.
Police said the girl had accused her abusers of kidnapping and keeping her as a sex slave since March 25th. She said she did not remember when she last ate.
It has also been claimed that the girl’s mother failed to notify the police that her daughter had gone missing.
Following yesterday’s appearance at Roodepoort Magistrate’s Court, the seven accused, who were arrested after being identified in the video, were remanded in custody to allow for further investigations. They will appear again at a bail hearing next week.
National prosecuting authority spokesman Mthunzi Mhaga said preliminary charges were being prepared based on prosecutors’ viewing of the video.
“They will be facing several counts of rape, sexual assault, engaging the sexual services of a minor for a reward, using a minor to create child pornography, committing a sexual act in the presence of a minor and committing a sexual act in the presence of an adult,” he said.
