Homecoming celebrations were cut short for one family after they found out that their 15-year-old boy was allegedly raped at one of the initiation schools in East London.
The grade 10 pupil from Buffalo flats, who was circumcised during winter, was taken to hospital after it emerged that he was gang-raped by six adults while he was undergoing the initiation process last month.
Warrant Officer Majola Nkhohlisaid the police are investigating a rape case. “Circumstances surrounding the incident are forming part of the investigation. Police are conducting further investigations before any arrests could be made.”
The Congress of Traditional Leaders (Contralesa) general secretary Zolani Mkiva said it was terrible to hear about such an incident. He said: “It’s horrible and it shows that people are losing morality day by day. Now, we will not focus on the issue of regulations. The real deal is what happened to this young man who was traumatised in this manner. We express disgust at this kind of barbaric act. The law must do everything to arrest the culprits and put them in the darkest cell.
An aunt of the teen said she was shocked on Sunday when the boy told her about the ordeal. The family had gathered to welcome him back from initiation school. “We could see he was not well,” she said.
“We took him to hospital thinking he was sick. When nurses raised flags that there was something wrong with him, he said he had been raped. We took him to the Empilweni clinic, but he was transferred to [Cecilia Makiwane Hospital] and admitted in the early hours of Monday.
“It was him and a schoolmate in that initiation school. He said he had not told us sooner because those men had threatened to kill him. He said six men did that to him but has so far given us only two names.”
Source: City Press, Times Live, The South African, image from Twitter