A MOTHER heard her baby cry and went to check.
Shockingly, she found the father and one-month-old baby girl naked and the baby was crying.
Police in North West have now arrested the 31-year-old man for the alleged rape of the baby girl. The suspect is said to be the baby's biological father.
According to North West police spokeswoman, Captain Aafje Botma, police in Brits arrested the man on Thursday, 19 October for the alleged rape of a one-month-old baby girl in Krokedile Drift West, Brits.
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"According to reports, the infant’s mother, aged 27, was busy preparing food outside the shack while the father was sleeping inside with the baby next to him. The mother suddenly heard the baby cry and when she entered, she noticed that something was wrong as the father and the baby were undressed.
"The amazed mother screamed for help and one of the neighbours responded and eventually called the police," she said.
Botma said the baby was taken to Brits Hospital for medical examination and subsequently admitted.
She said the suspect was arrested and is expected to appear in the Brits Magistrates Court on Monday, 23 October after a case of rape was opened.
North West Police Commissioner, Lieutenant-General Sello Kwena has condemned the shocking incident in the strongest possible terms and applauded the police and members of the community for their swift reaction that led to the arrest of the suspect.
The Moral Regeneration Movement (MRM) in the North West condemned the rape, describing the shocking incident as a despicable and atrocious act.
“Such an unwarranted attack on a defenceless child at the hands of a father who was supposed to love and protect her points to the extent to which moral decay has permeated our society. We shudder to imagine the physical, psychological, and lifelong trauma that the victim robbed of her innocence had to endure,” said Pastor Lesiba Kgwele, convener of the MRM Provincial Interim Committee.
“Our courts must restore confidence in the criminal justice system before communities which are fed up with such deplorable acts take matters into their own hands because there is no place in society for heartless and wicked individuals like him,” he emphasised.
Kgwele urged communities to unite in action against the scourge of gender-based violence.
