Pretoria – Civil rights group, #NotInMyName has escalated protests for the judiciary to permanently jail a man who was arrested for allegedly slitting the throat of an eight-year-old girl.
“We were at court for the case of little Rea, the eight-year-old girl whose throat was slit by her mother’s boyfriend. The man had an argument with the mother, and he slit the child’s throat,” said #NotInMyName secretary general Themba Masango.
“According to the father, the family was visiting the grandmother’s house in Khutsong extension in Mamelodi East where the attack happened. The accused and the mother of the girl had an argument when the mother asked the man to leave. He reportedly refused.
“He then resorted to slitting the girl’s throat in retaliation towards the mother. He went into the grandparents’ house and took a knife from the kitchen and slit the child’s throat execution-style,” said Masango.
He said the crowd of #NotInMyName activists were joined at court by numerous community members, who are demanding justice for the little girl who is “still fighting for her life”.
The matter was postponed to November 15.
“Justice must be served. We are with the community, to make sure that justice is served. We want a hefty sentence,” said Masango.
The National Prosecuting Authority previously stated that the 31-year-old, who allegedly slit the little girl’s throat, was in a romantic relationship with the mother of the child.
“It is alleged that on April 24, 2022, the couple had gone to a funeral, where an argument broke out between them. The following day, while the mother of the minor had gone to a nearby car wash, the accused went to a house where she stayed to try to work things out,” said North Gauteng regional spokesperson for the director of public prosecutions, Lumka Mahanjana.
She said the man allegedly stabbed the minor, in the presence of her grandmother.
“It is alleged that the accused used a butcher knife he found in the kitchen. The mother of the victim heard the screams of her mother and quickly rushed home, then took her injured child and rushed her to a nearby hospital,” said Mahanjana.
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