A man who allegedly assaulted his four-year-old daughter who subsequently died has been described as a “good guy” who always greeted people in his community.
Dressed in black pants and a grey hoodie, he briefly appeared in the Protea magistrate's court on Friday, charged with attempted murder and compelled rape. Police said in a statement on Friday the child had died in hospital after allegedly being assaulted on Wednesday.
“The case docket has been changed to murder and an additional charge of rape has been added,” police said.
His case was postponed to Tuesday for allocation of a date for his bail application.
The accused indicated to the court he would be applying for bail after securing a legal aid lawyer. The 32-year-old allegedly assaulted his daughter in Eldorado Park on Wednesday.
Community activist Raymond Jansen said the incident had shocked the community. “This incident shocked the whole of Eldorado Park. Everyone is in shock because this guy was a very good guy, but I don't know what happened.”
e said.
Local ward councillor Juwairiya Kaldine, who attended the court proceedings , said the “gruesome” incident occurred at about 10am.
She said police were called several times but allegedly only responded at 2pm. She only found out about the incident at 3pm on Thursday when a community member sent a voice note to the community WhatsApp group.
She said they managed to trace the person who sent the voice note and went to the crime scene.
“When I got to the crime scene, it was a gruesome image. It was, I don't even know how to explain at this point. I have no words. The bloody clothes were left in a bath, and it was still on the scene. There were paper towels full of blood and the couches were lying around,” she said.
She said the scene was allegedly left unsecured and could have been tampered with.
She went to the police station to ask if there was a registered case number.
The police couldn't give her any answers, she said, and she subsequently contacted the commander of Gauteng FCS Unit, who advised her that she must provide a case number to track the incident.
“I was very shocked. Everybody was talking about the incident already. You're now asking me for a case number to track?” she said.
She said she then went to the hospital to speak to the mother to find out if a case had been opened and to check if the little girl was fine. That's when she discovered the girl was on life support.
“The doctors then explained to me, as the community leader, that a lot of damage was done to the baby.
“They also needed the case number, which we didn't have at that point. And two hours later we then found that the mother was also arrested,” Kaldine said.
Gauteng police are yet to comment on the allegations made by Kaldine and their response will be added as soon as it becomes available.
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