A 16-year-old girl was allegedly forced to marry the 36-year-old pastor from her church in a case of ukuthwala.
Police said this week the Grade 9 pupil from a village near Centane was allegedly abducted and raped by the 36-year-old pastor, who has since been arrested.
The girl cannot be named due to the nature of the crime while the pastor, who appeared in court on Thursday, can only be named once he has pleaded.
Police spokesman Captain Jackson Manatha said the family of the victim failed to report the matter to police despite the fact that the teenager had disappeared for more than a week.
She was rescued on Tuesday at the man’s home 25km from Centane by detectives from the Butterworth Family Violence, Sexual Offences and Child Protection Unit.
“We effected the arrest after the matter was finally brought to our attention by the victim’s teachers when they noticed that the girl had not been at class between Tuesday September 1 and Monday September 7,” said Manatha.
“It came to the attention of the school authorities that the pupil was abducted by the suspect who made her his wife,” said Manatha.
The girl is an orphan who was being looked after by her uncle and his wife.
Confronted by the Saturday Dispatch yesterday, the uncle, 48, who is a self-employed taxi driver, denied the girl had been a victim of forced marriage.
“She left home on Sunday August 30 saying she is going to buy soap to wash her school uniform. She never returned.
“She called that Monday saying she was going to come back the following day. I did not hear a single word from her until Saturday when she called to say that she is never coming back,” said the uncle.
He said the pastor from their church then called to say that he had the girl and wanted to negotiate marriage to her.
“I said he must give the phone to the girl so that I could find out if she was okay with it and she said she was. I then said it’s fine he can bring his people to meet with my people to start lobola negotiations,” said the uncle.
He said on Tuesday he received a call from the pastor saying he had been arrested and that the child had been taken away by the police.
The uncle has an 18-year-old daughter. Asked if he would agree to marriage negotiations happening if it had been his daughter, he replied: “It will depend if she is in the house with me or not. If she is with me I will refuse but if she is with the man who is calling me then I don’t have a choice.”
He blamed “democracy” for giving children too much power.
“I hear that if there is consent between two people I cannot do anything about it. The problem is that there is no specification about what age the person who holds consent must be,” said the uncle.
Manatha said the victim has since been taken to a place of safety.
“She is receiving counselling from social workers. The suspect appeared in the Butterworth Magistrate’s Court on Thursday and the matter was postponed until next Tuesday for a bail hearing.”
The uncle said he was looking forward to his niece’s return as he loved and cared for her.
She is the recipient of an R800 government grant. The girl’s mother died in 2009 leaving her daughter in the care of her brother. — zwangam@dispatch.co.za / aronh@dispatch.co.za
Pastor held in ukuthwala shock
Police said this week the Grade 9 pupil from a village near Centane was allegedly abducted and raped by the 36-year-old pastor, who has since been arrested.
The girl cannot be named due to the nature of the crime while the pastor, who appeared in court on Thursday, can only be named once he has pleaded.
Police spokesman Captain Jackson Manatha said the family of the victim failed to report the matter to police despite the fact that the teenager had disappeared for more than a week.
She was rescued on Tuesday at the man’s home 25km from Centane by detectives from the Butterworth Family Violence, Sexual Offences and Child Protection Unit.
“We effected the arrest after the matter was finally brought to our attention by the victim’s teachers when they noticed that the girl had not been at class between Tuesday September 1 and Monday September 7,” said Manatha.
“It came to the attention of the school authorities that the pupil was abducted by the suspect who made her his wife,” said Manatha.
The girl is an orphan who was being looked after by her uncle and his wife.
Confronted by the Saturday Dispatch yesterday, the uncle, 48, who is a self-employed taxi driver, denied the girl had been a victim of forced marriage.
“She left home on Sunday August 30 saying she is going to buy soap to wash her school uniform. She never returned.
“She called that Monday saying she was going to come back the following day. I did not hear a single word from her until Saturday when she called to say that she is never coming back,” said the uncle.
He said the pastor from their church then called to say that he had the girl and wanted to negotiate marriage to her.
“I said he must give the phone to the girl so that I could find out if she was okay with it and she said she was. I then said it’s fine he can bring his people to meet with my people to start lobola negotiations,” said the uncle.
He said on Tuesday he received a call from the pastor saying he had been arrested and that the child had been taken away by the police.
The uncle has an 18-year-old daughter. Asked if he would agree to marriage negotiations happening if it had been his daughter, he replied: “It will depend if she is in the house with me or not. If she is with me I will refuse but if she is with the man who is calling me then I don’t have a choice.”
He blamed “democracy” for giving children too much power.
“I hear that if there is consent between two people I cannot do anything about it. The problem is that there is no specification about what age the person who holds consent must be,” said the uncle.
Manatha said the victim has since been taken to a place of safety.
“She is receiving counselling from social workers. The suspect appeared in the Butterworth Magistrate’s Court on Thursday and the matter was postponed until next Tuesday for a bail hearing.”
The uncle said he was looking forward to his niece’s return as he loved and cared for her.
She is the recipient of an R800 government grant. The girl’s mother died in 2009 leaving her daughter in the care of her brother. — zwangam@dispatch.co.za / aronh@dispatch.co.za
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