Girl (13) married to 57-year-old sangoma, police investigation widens

Johannesburg - An investigation into the marriage of a 13-year-old Limpopo girl to a 57-year-old sangoma could net more suspects, Limpopo police said on Tuesday.

"We have widened the investigation and it still continues... there could be more people who might be charged in the case," spokesperson Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said.

He said the epileptic teenager had been taken to a place of safety in Polokwane.

The sangoma was arrested on 23 January after a villager complained to social workers. However, charges against him were later withdrawn, as the girl's parents had consented to the marriage.

The girl's mother reportedly said the sangoma treated her daughter for two years and cured her epilepsy. The sangoma then told her ancestors were troubling the girl and she needed to be monitored. He offered to marry her.

A charge of statutory rape against the sangoma was reinstated.

Mulaudzi said the child's mother might face two possible charges, one of negligence and another of allowing the child to have a sexual relationship with an older person.

The National Prosecuting Authority would decide if the mother should be charged, Mulaudzi said.