A Mitchells Plain father has been arrested after allegedly beating his 4-year-old daughter so badly that her ribs broke.
The 44-year-old man appeared in the Mitchells Plain Magistrate's last Wednesday and is expected to appear again this week, on a charge of assault.
According to a community member, she was alerted to the incident when her daughter saw a message on the community chat group and they recognised the child.
She says people alerted authorities and “within minutes the police and social workers pulled up and took the mommy and child away to hospital.”
“The oldest girl came to me and explained that her father took her sister to the room and started hitting her because she did not know where she put a phone he was fixing.”
The concerned resident explains that the father fixes phones for an income.
“We are angry and so concerned about the children. She is still in hospital recovering. I don’t know how they can still call him a father, how can that be when he beats his girls?”
Red Cross Children Hospital said they are unable to disclose information about a minor patient.
Police spokesperson Anelisiwe Manyana says Mitchells Plain police registered a case of assault with the intent to cause grievous bodily harm following an incident on Monday, 12 August 2024, in Eastridge.
“According to reports the complainant came back from work when she was informed that her boyfriend and father of their 4 year old child, allegedly hit the child with a slipper. The child sustained bruises to the body.”