Schoolgirls raped after missing the bus

Cape Town - Police are hunting for a man who abducted and raped two eight-year-old girls, who had to walk home after missing their school bus.

The Grade 1 pupils were on their way home to Endlovini and Enkanini informal settlement in Khayelitsha from Injongo Primary School, also in Khayelitsha, last Thursday.

It is alleged a man spotted them between 7pm and 8pm, and lured them to his Ilitha Park home where he attacked the girls.

At about 2am the next day, he dumped the children in a darkened street, where a passerby spotted them and took them to the Lingelethu West police station.

The little girls have been left so traumatised they cannot say where exactly their attacker lives.

Police spokesperson Constable Noloyiso Rwexana confirmed the incident.

“A case of kidnapping and rape has been opened for investigation. No one has been arrested yet,” says Rwexana.

On Thursday, Injongo Primary School principal Sithembele Mhletywa refused to talk about the incident.

The victims’ families were also unavailable for interviews.

The Daily Voice did however speak to one of the bus drivers at the school.

The man said one of the victims was his regular passenger.

He said he was not aware that the child had been left behind and attacked.

“It’s sad that these kids had to walk home,” he said.

“The problem is we have so many kids on board.

“A 60-seater bus can take up to 100 kids, and this makes it very difficult for us to note who is in and who is not.”

The man, who declined to be named, says drivers used to have a list of the children boarding the bus.

“I don’t know what happened with the list now,” he explained.

“Now teachers just come to the bus with the children according to their grades, and leave them with us.

“Because we overload the children, some kids stand in the passage and that makes it difficult for us to check who is not in because they are not seated.

“It’s a sad thing that we have to operate like this, and we hope this can change.”

Daily Voice