Photocred: www.sheknows.com
The Springs resident who allegedly held his wife and five children captive and submitted them to years of abuse appeared in the Springs Magistrate’s court today.
The man, aged 36, faces charges of child abuse, attempted murder, kidnapping and possible statutory rape. He was arrested on Friday after his 11 year-old son managed to escape and alert the neighbours of the happenings in the upmarket residence where the man resided.
The man is a successful businessperson and lives in a luxurious residence full of furniture which the police described as expensive. The neighbours claim they were not even aware of the existence of the children up until the point where the son managed to escape and alert them.
The children are all between the ages of two and sixteen and only the oldest daughter (sixteen) has attended school, albeit for a brief period before she stopped attending.
After the boy alerted the neighbours, they contacted the police and returned him to the father next door. The boy was subsequently submerged in a swimming pool, then beaten and trampled on by the father. The man proceeded to wrap the boy in a towel and hid him away in the roof to prevent anyone finding him. The police arrived and the man claimed the boy had run away again, but they were suspicious and searched the house. Evidently the man was worried and so he took the boy to stay with family in the Free State so that he would not be found. He told his relatives that the older daughter had been abusing him to explain the blood and bruises. The mother eventually confessed to the police about the location of the boy.
It is alleged that the children were beaten, shocked with electric wires, burned with a blow torch, and molested and raped. Both the blow torch and wires were found by police in the man’s home. Pornographic DVD’s were found in the home as well. The police described the mans house as filthy, but full of expensive furniture. Even still, the children were all forced to sleep in one dirty bed together. The wife was also a regular victim of abuse at the hands of her husband.
The children are currently at a place of safekeeping and their mother is staying with relatives for the time being.
The man is in police custody and his bail application has been postponed while the police perform further investigation.
