A 6-year-old girl was kidnapped and raped some days ago and was found lifeless in a shallow stream afterwards.
According to online report, Noluthando Masango, who hails from South Africa, disappeared on Saturday, July 21, while attending a traditional ceremony with her grandmother.
It was reported that she was in a room playing with other children while the adults were enjoying the ceremony outside when she suddenly went out of the room and never returned.
A few days ago her tiny bruised body was found in a shallow stream in Siyabuswa, as Police suspect she may have been raped before she was killed.
Hours after Noluthando went missing, her kidnapper allegedly called her family and demanded for a R5000 ransom. She was raped and killed after her family missed the ransom deadline.
A post-mortem will be conducted to reveal the cause of her death, says Police spokesperson Leonard Hlathi says. He said;
“People who kidnap and murder young children are heartless. There’s also a possibility that she might have been sexually molested, and this is what we’re exploring in terms of identification.”
In a statement, Mpumalanga MEC for community safety, Pat Ngomane said it appeared that there had been a spike in child kidnappings, with the worst cases ending in death, while others fortunately ended in children being reunited with their families.
Ngomane has condemned the killing children, saying that it destroys the social fibre of communities and the future of the country.
He added that children should not be worrying about their safety but instead should be mainly preoccupied with their school work.
