A Chatsworth court has heard how a couple allegedly used a hammer to knock nails into the hands and feet of an 11-year-old girl because she did her homework late.
The couple are the child’s sister and brother-in-law. They have been charged with attempted murder, child negligence, domestic violence and assault GBH (grievous bodily harm).
They have pleaded not guilty to the charges and, this week, appeared in the Chatsworth Magistrate’s Court to apply for bail.
The child’s mother died a few years ago and her father, also a suspect in the matter, cannot be found.
The accused are not named to protect the identity of the minor child.
The State opposed bail based on the seriousness of the charges and the outrage of the community.
Warrant Officer Samantha Naicker, the investigating officer, testified that the child was left in the care of her biological sister after her mother died.
Naicker said: “The child was happy in the beginning but things began to change. Her sister assaulted her with a beer bottle and an electric cord. She was assaulted with a hammer on her head, fingers and feet. Nails were also hammered into her palms and feet.
“She was poked with a knife in her back and the sister had used a vicegrip on her fingers. Her teeth were also knocked out with the hammer and her body was covered with petrol. The sister threatened to set her alight.”
Naicker did not say exactly when the abuse started. However, the abuse started because the girl did her homework late. She stopped going to school in March this year.
According to Naicker, the abuse was ongoing and committed by both accused.
“An electrical cord was used to hit her on her back, legs and stomach. She was also hit with a broomstick on her head, back and legs. She was punched in the face and got a blue eye. She was also dragged on the floor.”
Naicker said on some occasions the child did not know why she was being assaulted.
“On August 10, she was assaulted on the head with a hammer and sustained severe head injuries. She had a blue eye. The child was locked in the bathroom and she climbed through a window to get help from a neighbour. The neighbour called the police.”
She was taken to hospital. Naicker said the accused were arrested on August 18 after being apprehended by a community member, who promised them financial assistance if they came to her home.
“I conducted my own investigation and confirmed that the child had not been to school since March. The child is very traumatised. Upon hearing her sister’s name, she tears up. She is scared.”
The matter was adjourned to September.
A relative of the girl said: “We are shattered. We visited her in the hospital and she is totally different from the child we used to know. She was playful and fun loving. Now she just looks so traumatised and scared.
“She told me she had a nightmare that her sister was released from jail. In the nightmare, her sister hit her with a hammer on her head, cracking her skull and she punched her in the face, taking out all her teeth. She said she woke up screaming.
“While we are happy that the accused have been arrested, we feel they need to be released to the community. They need to feel the pain that our little girl felt. We cannot allow people to get away with abuse.”
Outside court, members of the community protested against the couple getting bail. A petition was also signed and handed over to the magistrate.
Tootsie Francis, a community activist from the South African Outreach Emergency
Services, said: “We have appointed the services of an attorney to do watching briefs on behalf of the child.
“We want to ensure the child gets justice and is placed in a home where she can get the proper care.
“This ordeal and hearing about the abuse this child has gone through has brought back memories of Baby Jamie. We don’t want a repeat of what happened to her.”
In 2014, Jamie Faith Naidoo, from Bayview in Chatsworth, died from blunt head trauma.
Her mother and the child’s maternal grandmother were accused of assaulting and torturing her.
According to reports by IOL, the women burnt Jamie with cigarettes and hit her on her private parts.
She was also hit with rulers and wooden spoons. Jamie was deprived of food, and her legs and hands were bound.
She was also tied to the bed at night with string.
Her grandmother died during the trial and her mother is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence.
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