Man remanded in custody over alleged rape of 13-year-old sangoma initiate

A 36-year-old man was remanded in police custody after appearing in the Ritavi Magistrate’s Court on a charge of raping a 13-year-old girl who was attending an ancestral initiation school in Limpopo, police said over the weekend.

The accused appeared in court on Friday after police arrested him in the Mopani District.

According to police, the case came to light on October 20 when the girl’s 38-year-old mother reported that her daughter had disclosed an alleged rape that occurred more than a year earlier.

The teenager told her mother that she was attending an ancestral initiation school to train as a traditional healer at a homestead in Khopo village in May 2025 when the alleged attack took place.

Police said the girl alleged that she was in her assigned hut when a man known to her arrived at the homestead and raped her.

According to investigators, the child did not immediately report the incident because she was afraid. She only revealed the alleged assault to her mother after returning home, prompting the matter to be reported to police.

A rape case was subsequently opened and detectives launched a manhunt for the suspect.

The accused was arrested the next day, October 21, at Khujwana village.

He appeared before the Ritavi Magistrate’s Court on October 23 and was remanded in custody. The case was postponed to October 29 for a bail application and further police investigations.