“He hurt my child and he hurt me. This is the first time I am speaking about the incident.” These were the words of Shanaaz Majal, a distraught Wesbank mother whose son has allegedly fallen victim to a serial molester in the community. With the outcry of sexual abuse allegations against community members growing more and more vehemently, VOC News was prompted to visit Wesbank, Delft where several children had fallen prey at the hands of a mentally unstable child molester.
The first victim had come out to the street committee on the 15th September 2020.
“He [alleged perpetrator] had gotten married two weeks before the allegations came out and he was meant to move the next day but the claims came out and subsequently he was apprehended by the police,” explained Majal.
Majal detailed that with the trauma of the sexual abuse her son has also become the victim of bullying within the community.
“Initially I heard that my son was apart of the group of children that were abused but at first I didn’t believe him, I thought he was just looking for attention,” wails the heartbroken mother.
According to psychologists, there are many understandable reasons why a child victim of sexual abuse is not likely to tell anyone about their abuse. Often, the abusive adult will convince the child that they won’t be believed or that they are somehow responsible for the abuse and will be punished for it. The child may care about or feel protective of the person who sexually abused them and may feel they’d be betraying this person by telling about the sexual contact and the abuser may use this information to help maintain the secrecy.
Majal said she began believing her son when she realized his story never faltered.
“I told him don’t lie! You’re just saying this because it came out but I continued to ask him what happened and his story remained the same. He pulled down my son’s pants and sucked his genitals,” sobbed Majal.
People who abuse children may offer a combination of gifts or treats and threats about what will happen if the child says ‘no’ or tells someone. They may scare the child with threats of being hurt physically, but more often the threat is about what will be lost if they tell.
“He would bribe the children with money, sweets and game-time on his cellphone to allow him to pull down their pants and touch their private parts,” detailed Majal.
Majal explained she was aware that the alleged perpetrator had spent time in jail prior to these allegations.
“He was in jail for allegedly raping his ex-wife’s child but the family hid that information from the community because they’re old and cannot deal with unnecessary stress,” said Majal.
A case of sexual assault against the suspect has been opened at the Mfuleni police station. The suspect has allegedly been remanded in custody and ‘would like to remain behind bars out of fear of mob justice.’
VOC