A SIX-YEAR-OLD boy has been freed from captivity after spending hours chained up and hungry in a house in Qweqwe Village near Mthatha.
The child, who has deep marks on his hands from being bound with a long, rusty chain and padlock, was allegedly locked up by his 71-year-old grandmother, who left the village to visit a friend in another village on Wednesday.
It is believed the boy, who was visibly traumatised and dazed when found, was chained for hours before a neighbour came to his rescue later that day.
It is alleged that neighbours first heard his cries at about 11am, but did not respond because the boy normally cries. It was only at about 5pm, when the grandmother had not been seen by anyone, that people responded.
The young boy, whose hands were still bound, was taken to the home of Thembile Mantyi, a police officer in Mthatha, who in turn took the child to the Mthatha Central Police Station, where a search for the grandmother began.
When the Daily Dispatch arrived at the police station, the barefooted boy was dressed in only a golf shirt and torn trousers.
“I was shocked when two men came to my house with the boy in heavy chains and apparently frightened and shaking,” Mantyi told the Dispatch.
“The boy said he was assaulted by his grandmother and chained. She apparently left for Payne village and left the boy without food.”
At the police station, officers arranged for bolt cutters from one of the units. However, the elderly woman was brought in by police before the bolt cutter arrived and the padlock was unlocked.
The 71-year-old grandmother is said to be the child’s guardian after his mother died in 2009. The boy’s father reportedly lives in Gauteng.
Asked why the boy had been chained up, the woman said she did not want him to sneak out of the house and stray in the village.
She could not say why the boy, who has old burn scars on his back and an injured eye, was not at school.
She was arrested on child abuse charges and is due in the Mthatha Magistrate’s Court soon.
Social development officials have taken the boy to a place of safety. He was also taken to the doctor for a checkup. —
Weeping boy, 6, found in chains
The child, who has deep marks on his hands from being bound with a long, rusty chain and padlock, was allegedly locked up by his 71-year-old grandmother, who left the village to visit a friend in another village on Wednesday.
It is believed the boy, who was visibly traumatised and dazed when found, was chained for hours before a neighbour came to his rescue later that day.
It is alleged that neighbours first heard his cries at about 11am, but did not respond because the boy normally cries. It was only at about 5pm, when the grandmother had not been seen by anyone, that people responded.
The young boy, whose hands were still bound, was taken to the home of Thembile Mantyi, a police officer in Mthatha, who in turn took the child to the Mthatha Central Police Station, where a search for the grandmother began.
When the Daily Dispatch arrived at the police station, the barefooted boy was dressed in only a golf shirt and torn trousers.
“I was shocked when two men came to my house with the boy in heavy chains and apparently frightened and shaking,” Mantyi told the Dispatch.
“The boy said he was assaulted by his grandmother and chained. She apparently left for Payne village and left the boy without food.”
At the police station, officers arranged for bolt cutters from one of the units. However, the elderly woman was brought in by police before the bolt cutter arrived and the padlock was unlocked.
The 71-year-old grandmother is said to be the child’s guardian after his mother died in 2009. The boy’s father reportedly lives in Gauteng.
Asked why the boy had been chained up, the woman said she did not want him to sneak out of the house and stray in the village.
She could not say why the boy, who has old burn scars on his back and an injured eye, was not at school.
She was arrested on child abuse charges and is due in the Mthatha Magistrate’s Court soon.
Social development officials have taken the boy to a place of safety. He was also taken to the doctor for a checkup. —
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