A 36-year-old man has been remanded in police custody following the alleged rape of a 13-year-old girl who was attending an ancestral initiation school to become a traditional healer in Khopo village, Limpopo.
The suspect appeared before the Ritavi Magistrate’s Court on Friday, October 23, where he faced a charge of rape.
According to Limpopo police spokesperson Colonel Malesela Ledwaba, the case was reported on Tuesday, October 20, after the girl allegedly told her mother that she had been raped in May 2025.
The girl was attending an ancestral initiation school at a homestead in Khopo village, which falls under the Ritavi policing precinct in the Mopani District.
It is alleged that the girl was in her allocated hut when a man known to her, who had visited the homestead unexpectedly, raped her.
She allegedly feared reporting the incident while she was still at the initiation school and only disclosed it to her mother after returning home.
The matter was reported to the police, who opened a rape case and launched a manhunt for the suspect.
He was arrested on Wednesday, October 21, in Khujwana village.
The court remanded him in police custody, postponing the case to Thursday, October 29, for a formal bail application and further police investigations.
Police investigations are continuing, Ledwaba said.
