TSHIMBUPFE – A 7-year-old rape victim of Tshimbupfe-Ha-Mutheiwana is still reeling in deep pain she suffered when a man believed to be in his 30’s allegedly used a knife to rape her on Friday at the settlement.

It is alleged that Thomas Shirinda found the victim playing with her friends at her kraal and promised them sweets. According to the kids who were playing with the victim, the alleged rapist, who is commonly known as Tshamutonga, turned all of them away, but requested his intended victim to follow him and collect the sweets in the nearby bushes.

The elder sister of the victim’s mother who was staying and looking after the traumatised girl, confirmed during a community gathering held at the headman’s kraal on Sunday that she heard the little girl coming from the nearby bushes making a loud sound, expressing her pain. She was unable to walk and was weeping. “When I asked her what had happened, she kept on crying and when I unzipped her jacket, I found that she was bleeding profusely, with her jacket and panties containing blood stains. While I was still shocked and frustrated, her friends who were playing with her told me that the suspect had taken her to the bush with him,” she said.

At Tshimbupfe Clinic, the victim was immediately transferred to Tshilidzini Hospital, where it was confirmed that she had been raped. The chairperson of the Mutheiwana Youth Committee, Mr Nthambeleni Matsheka, who went to visit the victim at Tshilidzini Hospital on Saturday with two other committee members, told Mirror that he was shocked when nurses revealed that a knife was also used on the innocent girl’s private parts during the alleged raped.

“We were further informed that she was unable to go to the toilet as she had also been sodomised,” he said. He expressed his concern about Shirinda’s correct age as, according to the police statement, he is 21 years old. “We understand that he might not know his age because he has never set a foot in school, but the police should have interacted with our Community Policing Forum, Youth Committee, our headman and the Civic Association to get his correct age. He is in his 30’s. As the youth of Ha-Mutheiwana village, we view this as inhuman, since even animals don’t do this,” he said.

Matsheka said that the police should also have opened cases of indecent assault as well as assault with the intention to cause bodily harm against Tshamutonga.

Headman Mutheiwana Netshimbupfe said it is a serious crime. “I do not want this kind of thing in my village and while we are still reeling in shock and pain, I want all of us to regard this incident as a challenge. I urge you not to develop a negative attitude against the Shirinda family,” he said.

The civic chairperson, Mr Thomas Mulaudzi, and Mr Elias Muavha told Mirror how they led the Vuwani police to arrest Shirinda. “After the traumatised kid was taken to the hospital, we asked several kids who had been playing with the victim if they had seen someone with her and all of them told us about the same person. We started searching for him until we heard that he was at his kraal. We phoned the police and went to his kraal and sat with him until the police arrived,” they said.

Villagers have already started contributing funds for the medical and transport expenses of the victim. A Trust Fund through the account of Mutheiwana Youth committee has been opened at First National Bank. The account number is 62084458001, branch code 260149, FNB Vuwani branch with the reference name Matodzi (not the victim’s real name). “We are requesting kind-hearted individuals and businessmen to contribute as this kid is from a poverty-stricken family who cannot afford to pay travelling and medical expenses,” said Matsheka.

Shirinda appeared in a packed Vuwani Magistrate’s Court on Monday. He was not asked to plead and the case was postponed to July 15. He is in custody.