Police have taken into custody the father of the nine-year-old girl from Tsholotsho who is eight months pregnant and currently admitted at United Bulawayo Hospitals.
Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) national spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi was quoted as saying the father of the child is in police custody to assist with investigations into the rape case. Said Asst Comm Nyathi:
The father of the nine-year-old who is pregnant at the United Bulawayo Hospitals is in police custody assisting in the investigations of this issue.
As police, we are engrossed with this issue so that we get evidence on the perpetrator of the alleged rape.
The Chief of the area where the child comes from, Chief Gampu was reported as saying the child is refusing to reveal the name of the man who raped her. Chief Gampu said:
As the leader of this community, I’m really worried about what happened to this child as she’s too young to become a parent.
Measures have been taken to get the child to open up about who exactly sexually harassed her but she’s not revealing anything to show that she was intimidated by the perpetrator not to say anything.
The pregnancy was revealed after she was taken to Tsholotsho Hospital as she was complaining about stomach pain. The doctor examined her only to find out she was pregnant.
From the hospital, they came to inform me about the jaw-dropping incident when I told them the issue was a police case.
For now, the father of the child is with the police helping with investigations.
Family members have reportedly asked prophets to reveal the identity of the rapist, and if that fails, they will go for DNA tests once the child delivers the baby. Said a source:
Family members realised that the only way to get the truth would be to gather each and every male’s DNA samples who once stayed with the family and neighbours so as to determine the perpetrator.