A police officer facing a charge of sexual assault of a minor allegedly threatened to decapitate his victim if she told anyone about the incident.
This was revealed in the Protea magistrate’s court, where the mother of the then eight-year-old schoolgirl relayed what her daughter had told her after the minor was allegedly sexually assaulted by the police officer.
“She said the officer threatened her not to tell anyone about what happened. She said the officer said to her: ‘If I get arrested I’ll come out of jail and I’ll kill you — I’ll chop off your head’,” the emotional mother said.
Her daughter, 10, was one of 87 pupils who accused a school security guard of sexual abuse and rape at AB Xuma Primary School in Orlando in October 2017. The mother said she lost faith in the justice system after the school guard, Johannes Molefe, was acquitted of all charges in December 2018.
Const Oscar Hlongwane, 35, who was attached to the family violence, child protection and sexual offences investigations unit (FCS) in Meadowlands, Soweto, was tasked with gathering information following the initial incident.
Hlongwane pleaded not guilty to a charge of rape and sexual assault on April 1.
Led through her testimony by prosecutor Thapelo Mohapi, the mother, who cannot be named to protect the identity of her minor child, told the court that her daughter was the second victim to be interviewed by Hlongwane on March 12 2018.
The emotional mother lowered her head as tears trickled down her face while telling the court what her daughter had told her.
“She said the cop was there concerning Mkhulu’s matter. She did not know the officer’s name,” she said.
The mother said she took her daughter to Nthabiseng Thuthuzela Care Centre at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital where she was checked by a doctor. She said she reported the matter to the police the day after the incident but said lost faith in police ability to protect her child.
“While reporting the matter I was met with hostility from the officers who were assisting me. They kept on saying that Oscar was a good officer and that he would not do something like that,” she said.
Magistrate Tshepiso Maepa postponed the matter for April 29, when the doctor who examined the minor is expected to testify.
Hlongwane was removed from the FCS unit after the allegations and he was moved to the SAPS provincial headquarters in Parktown, Johannesburg, where he assists with logistics. He was arrested and granted R5,000 bail in August 2018.
