Two more people appeared in court in the Eastern Cape in connection with the forced marriage of a 14-year-old girl to a 62-year-old man.
Hawks Eastern Cape spokesperson, Captain Anelisa Feni, said that a 62-year-old man and a woman appeared before the Port Elizabeth Magistrate’s Court on Thursday on a charge of “trafficking in a person”.
Feni said the two were arrested at Stanger in KwaZulu-Natal on Monday by Port Elizabeth members of the Serious Organised Crime unit of the Hawks.
She said they were the second and third suspect to be arrested for this case.
“The first suspect, a 61-year-old man, was arrested for Trafficking in Persons during March 2017. The 61-year-old man is accused of forcefully marrying a 14-year-old girl through the ukuThwala tradition.”
Captain Feni said that the parents of the teenage girl passed away during November 2016, leaving her in the care of her uncle, the 62-year-old man who appeared in court on Thursday.
“The teenage girl and her uncle are from Stanger while the 62-year-old woman and the 61-year-old man are all originally from Bizana. The uncle then allegedly agreed to forcefully marry the girl to the 61-year-old man through the ukuThwala tradition,” she said.
“It is alleged that R30 000 was paid for lobola.”
Feni said the 14-year-old was then subsequently brought to Port Elizabeth where the 61-year-old resides.
“It is alleged that the two lived together from September 2016 to April 2017. It is further alleged that the man sexually abused her during this period and forced her to act as a wife to him.”
The 61-year-old is out on R5000 bail while the 62-year-old man and woman will appear before the same court again on Friday.
(Photo:BuzzSA)
