A 25-year-old woman and her 33-year-old male friend are expected to appear in the Ogies magistrate’s court in Mpumalanga on Thursday on charges of child grooming and statutory rape.
The two were arrested on Monday.
The mother of the victim reported that a woman in Phola allegedly encouraged, instructed and persuaded her 15-year-old child to engage in sexual activities with several men.
“Police acted quickly on the report,” said Mpumalanga police spokesperson Lt-Col Jabu Ndubane.
The mother further alleged that the victim told her that on Monday morning, the accused woman compelled her to have sexual intercourse with a 33-year-old man and gave her R100 in cash.
“Additionally the mother stated that on the same day, around 12.30pm, the woman coerced the victim into having sexual intercourse with her purported male friend, who had assured them that payment would be made later.”
The police cannot rule out the possibility of additional charges being filed, Ndubane added.
Acting Mpumalanga police commissioner Maj-Gen Zeph Mkhwanazi welcomed the arrest of the suspects and expressed his disappointment that the woman who should have been protecting the girls exploited them for financial gain.
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