The rape of a month-old girl allegedly by her biological father is a despicable and atrocious act, the Moral Regeneration Movement (MRM) in the North West said.

The infant was allegedly raped by her father on Thursday in Krokodildrift West, outside Brits.

“Such an unwarranted attack on a defenceless child at the hands of a father who was supposed to love and protect her, points to the extent to which moral decay has permeated our society. We shudder to imagine the physical, psychological, and lifelong trauma that the victim, robbed of her innocence, had to endure,” said Pastor Lesiba Kgwele, convenor of the MRM Provincial Interim Committee.

According to police spokesperson Captain Aafje Botma, reports indicate that the infant's mother, aged 27, was busy preparing food outside the shack while the father was sleeping inside with the baby next to him.

The mother suddenly heard the baby crying and noticed when she entered the room that the father and the baby were naked.

She screamed for help, and one of the neighbours responded and eventually called the police.

The baby was taken to Brits Hospital for a medical examination and subsequently admitted.

Kgwele called for justice for the infant, stating that courts should restore confidence in the criminal justice system before communities, fed up with such deplorable acts, take matters into their own hands.

He said that there was a limit to the extent to which communities could tolerate and handle such devastating acts of gender-based violence involving children. He urged communities to unite in action against the scourge of gender-based violence.

IOL