Week-old girl raped in S. Africa

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Reuters, July 30, 2002

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (Reuters) -- A week-old baby girl has been raped in South Africa, making her the youngest victim in a spate of child rapes fuelled by the myth that sex with a virgin cures AIDS, police say.

The baby's mother saw blood on the child's diaper when she changed it on Sunday evening and found bruises on her genitals, Superintendent Lawrence Zondi told Reuters on Tuesday.

"I am speechless and horrified," said Kelly Hatfield, who heads a group opposing violence against women in South Africa.

"Rape is about power and control but how much more powerful can you be over something so little and vulnerable? It shows lack of self-esteem, depression, depravity and perversion," she said.

About 21,000 cases of child rape were reported to South African police last year. Experts say some of the culprits are infected with the HIV/AIDS virus and believe -- as elsewhere in Africa -- that sex with a young virgin will cure them.

"The week-old child has been raped by an unknown person. She is seriously injured but her condition is stable," Zondi told Reuters.

Police have been investigating Sunday's attack at Kwaminya in the KwaZulu-Natal province.

On Friday, 23-year-old David Potse was sentenced to life imprisonment for raping a nine-month-old baby in October, an attack that outraged the country known for high levels of violent crime.

Passing the sentence Judge Hennie Lacock said the rape of the baby -- identified only by the nickname Tshepang, meaning "Have Hope" -- was the most gruesome example of a human rights violation that he had come across.

Tshepang survived the attack, but had to have reconstructive surgery to repair her genitals and internal organs.

Lacock said he would have imposed the death penalty without hesitation had South Africa not abolished capital punishment.