Johannesburg,South Africa

Parents of a teenager girl that alleged to be victim of rape were slapped with another charge for hiding the death of the one-year-old boy to the authorities.

According to police in Mpumalanga,the parents of the alleged raped victim are expected to appear at the Kabokweni Magistrate's Court on Monday,12 June 2023,this time for concealment of death.This development comes after the remains of a child(01) were exhumed in Pienaar at a place where the young girl(14/15 years old) was allegedly raped by her step-father(43) whilst assisted by her own biological mother(35).

The police discovered about the disappearance of the one-year old child while were busy with an investigation of the teenage girl rape accusations against her mother and stepfather.

Police added that the news concerning the burial of a child in a shallow grave behind the shack where the family lived,surfaced as Police investigators were trying to get a picture on the circumstances surrounding the girl's ordeal.Value information came forth about a child whose whereabouts was unknown.According to the investigation,people in the neighborhood were worried sick after not seeing the child for a while without being notified about his death.

On Wednesday,07 June 2023,police wasted no time decided to dug around the shack where discovered the body of the child and then both parents were charged for the concealment of the child's death.

The police investigation is still ongoing and forensic investigation is underway to find out the cause of the child's death.

The statement maintained that police at this stage cannot rule out the possibility of adding more charges against them.So far police have learned that the parents are not South African citizens and it is believed that they are originally from Mozambique without valid documentation to be in the country.However,in this matter,the SAPS is working collaboratively with the Department of Home Affairs to ascertain their status in the country.

The stepfather started to rape a teenage girl not now but many years and that was kept a secret up until the girl chose to run away from home and encounter another man who raped her too then community intervened.

The police statement continued to say that just to get a background of where this stems from,the matter regarding the girl's rape was kept under the carpet for years.It is also alleged that the young girl came to a point where she ran from home to escape from her assailants then she came across a man who took her in but he too,allegedly raped her.However,be as it may,some members of the community alerted the authorities during the beginning of this past week.The case was opened and the matter was investigated by the Family Violence,Child Protection and Sexual Offences(FCS) Unit in Pienaar and the stepfather(43) as well as the biological mother(35) were arrested on Tuesday 06 June 2023 then accordingly.

The little girl as well as her four siblings were removed to a place of safety,police said.

The parents appeared in court on 07 June on charges of rape and are expected back in court on the 14 June and remained in custody.

Police concluded that the Provincial Commissioner of the SAPS in Mpumalanga,Lieutenant General Semakaleng Daphney Manamela has lashed out on the alleged behaviour by the parents against their own,more especially that this story emerged during the celebration of Youth Month."Parents are tasked with the responsibility to bring up children in a responsible manner so that these young ones in turn grow up to be responsible future parents.Children should be protected and they must never be abused by anyone,including their own parents,"said the General.