10 boys sodomised at police camp

TEN boys from Western Commonage Police Camp aged between six and nine years were allegedly sodomised by a 12-year-old boy who stays in the same compound and his friends whose identities are unknown, this paper can reveal.

Three of the abused boys reportedly spent three days indoors as they could not walk after sustaining serious injuries.

The incident which occurred on Sunday, 14 June has been kept under tight wraps as the parents of the child who is accused of being the ring leader in the sodomy case are reportedly threatening the victim's parents from reporting the matter.

The victims who are doing their primary education in various schools in the western suburbs were taken for medical examination at Mpilo Hospital where doctors found that three of the 10 children were seriously injured.

A parent whose child was seriously injured said the family had decided not to pursue the matter because "there are some serious threats which the victim's families are receiving".

A medical record which the family provided to Sunday News reads: "Child is definitely penetrated anally with the evidence of reflex anal dilatation and anal tissue."

For the sake of her child, the parent said the matter should be dealt with so that there can be "peace at the camp and victims can have a peace of mind".

"I only discovered that there was something wrong with my child when he came home limping. When I queried, he lied and said he got injured while he was playing. But I later realised that there was something wrong because his face was sour and after persisting, he then told me that he was sodomised," the victim's mother said.

"Unfortunately, from the whole crew which was sodomised, mine is among the three that were seriously injured. As the family we have already decided to let the issue go because the boy's mother, whom our children are saying sodomised them, is threatening us that something bad can happen if we mention his child's name. With that, we are no longer interested in the matter but our children need protection so that they can too grow up and have a peace of mind."

Another parent whose child was seriously injured after being sodomised said she was shocked that children could abuse their juniors.

"Well my brother, the matter truly happened and I am still shocked on how a boy of that age can do such an act? My son is now taking some tablets which were prescribed by the doctor and I hope that he will remain at his level best. School authorities are not aware of that issue because sometimes telling them might result in the matter leaking and affecting their mental well-being," she said.

Another victim's parent confirmed the incident, saying her child vividly remembered what happened despite the doctor indicating that there was no penetration in the medical report.

"The child is among the children who were abused. When we ask him what happened, he tells us everything but when he went for medical examination the doctor said there was no penetration. He was also taken for counselling so that he cannot be affected by what happened," she said.

Another parent whose six-year-old child claims to have been sodomised but whose medical report states that there was no damage or evidence of penetration, said he was having sleepless nights because his son's behaviour had changed. He said he feared that the situation might get worse as his son continued to meet the perpetrator on a daily basis.

"The boy (name withheld) is the ring leader. He has his friends who stay outside the camp whom he brought and sodomised our kids. I am not settled because this matter is going to severely mentally affect my child. What is so disturbing is that the police seem not to be taking harsh measures to take the matter to court. How our children cannot get affected by this bad incident when on a daily basis they are seeing the person who sodomised them? My child told me that (name supplied) was the one who was sodomising him and police also know that," he said.

The accused boy's mother confirmed receiving the reports but denied that her child was a sodomite.

"The matter truly happened. Everybody here knows that there is that issue but my child is innocent. He is not involved in this issue; people are just spreading information which is not true at all. You can go to the charge office to get more information because that's where the matter was reported. I never threatened people, what I simply did was to tell them to stop dragging my son's name into the issue because he is not involved," she said.

The mother of the third boy who is said to be seriously injured refused to divulge any information. She said the matter was not for public consumption. Despite other victim's parents and some residents telling the paper that her child was seriously injured, she denied the matter.

"My child is not part of that crew which was sodomised. I will not entertain further questions on that matter," she said before turning her back.

Contacted for a comment, Bulawayo police spokesperson Inspector Mandlenkosi Moyo said he could not give a comment because he had not received the report.

However, officers at his office had earlier indicated that they had compiled a report which they were waiting for Insp Moyo to release after he was done with a meeting he was attending. When our reporter called Insp Moyo after the meeting, he said he could not give a comment because his subordinates did not leave any report on the issue.