The incident, which came to light last month after
deoxyribonucleic acid tests (DNA) confirmed the 13-year-old boy as having
impregnated his nine-year-old cousin, has shocked the country.
The two families also belong to the same clan. In addition,
the DNA tests exonerated the father of the nine-year-old who was initially
picked up by the police as a prime rape suspect. He, however, is still in
remand prison and is set to appear in court this week.
A Sunday News crew travelled to Tsholotsho last Wednesday
where they met the two families who were having a meeting discussing the
matter. According to the paternal grandmother of the nine-year-old, who
travelled from her South Africa base when the story broke, the parents of the
13-year-old boy had come to discuss the matter.
She said their coming together was to avoid distortions in
the matter as they said there were inconsistencies in the manner in which the
matter was reported in some media outlets.
“You found us in a meeting with the parents of the
13-year-old. They have come with their elders to acknowledge what had occurred
between the two children following the publishing of the DNA results. They came
in peace and we are happy with that. We are a family.
“We do not want people to say conflicting statements hence
we are together here discussing the matter. There is nothing we can do, this is
an act that was done by our children, it is nature though, we found it there
and we will leave it there. We just do not want distortions,” she said.
It was also confirmed that the father of the nine-year-old
was still in remand prison with the relatives revealing that upon his release
they were going to convene as a family where the father would also help counsel
the two minors.
“The father of the nine-year-old is not there so when he is
released, he will speak to both his children. We are grateful that the children
are safe, we were not expecting that a nine-year-old could give birth with no
challenges, hence we are grateful to God for the miracle. We were not expecting
it at all,” said another grandmother.
The paternal grandmother of the nine-year-old further said
she was disturbed by accusations levelled against her son, saying as a family
they had faced stigma within the community.
“My son was accused of evil things and I wonder where
people got it from. I am surprised that there is a goblin that is being talked
about, where is all that coming from? We are worried that such reports are
being made. Do you know that I could not go to the well to fetch water in the
village because of the stigma? I never attended school meetings because of the
accusations against my son, all eyes were on us in this village. I am happy the
truth is finally out that he did not rape his child,” said the grandmother.
There were reports that the minor girl had told counsellors
that her father had told her that goblins would come in through the window at
night and rape her, sentiments that have since been dismissed by the
family.
“When we were told of the bulging stomach, we assumed she
was just sick, nothing more, we encouraged the mother to take her to hospital
to seek help. We were not very shocked initially when the stomach bulged
because we had never imagined that a child could get pregnant. So, we actually
assumed other things like witchcraft, fibroids and not pregnancy. We even
prayed so much and she got prayers from other people trying to assist the
‘sick’ child. We all never imagined that she could be pregnant hence it was
discovered too late at seven months and there was nothing we could do about
it,” she added.
The father of the 13-year-old said the birth of the child
was just mischief on the part of the children and will not dent their
relationship as a family.
“The parents of the girl are not here so when they come to
the village, we will talk about it but there is no bad blood between us, it is
just mischief on the children’s part, we remain a family,” he said.
The paternal grandmother of the nine-year-old, however,
said she hoped the minor would be separated from the newly-born child.
“I do not want the newborn and the mother to grow up in one
place. She will not grow up well or take it well. There is no child that has a
child in all fairness. She still needs to return to school and the school must
be away from Tsholotsho so that no one recognises her, we are scared she will
be stigmatised in the community.
“I do not know if those currently keeping the newborn will
give us that child and we raise her, then give her to the mother when she is
old enough and in a position to understand what happened. We are still pondering
around the issue but we want the newborn to be with us,” she added.
The newborn was handed over to the care of foster parents
and the Social Welfare Department. Health experts said the nine-year-old girl
was able to fall pregnant due to early puberty, though it is a rare phenomenon.
The young girl had also started her menstrual cycle at the early age of seven. –
Sunday News
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