Rescued Bulgarian Orphan Raped in Her New Life in South Africa

Crime | January 27, 2011, Thursday // 12:33|  views

A recent investigation has revealed a grisly picture of neglect at Bulgarian state homes for mentally disabled children, which lead to 238 deaths since 2000. Photo by BGNES

A Bulgarian girl, who was saved from the abominable conditions of an orphanage in her home country, has been brutally raped in South Africa, local media reported.

Two boys, aged 15 and 17, have pleaded guilty to rape. Their attorneys have asked for forgiveness on their behalf, bur prosecutors have warned they face long-term imprisonment.

The girl's foster mother told on Wednesday the court in Paarl that the child was rescued from Bulgaria in a state of massive malnourishment in 1998, and brought to South Africa.

She was seven years old and weighed about 7kg. Nurses at the home said she had brain damage and was going to die.

However, doctors who treated the girl found no sign of brain damage and diagnosed her as extremely neglected and malnourished. According to her foster parents who were shocked by the horrific state of children in the orphanage, it was closed down by the Bulgarian government in 2001.

The couple said they had been touched by the girl who was bedridden when they found her.

The rape happened while they were on holiday in the Pine Forest Resort in Ceres in 2009.

She had been at the swimming pool with her foster father and sister and then left to play in a nearby park.

When her foster mother and sister went to look for her later, they could not find her. They raised an alarm and a search was launched.

Eventually the mother spotted a boy who ran from her, on following him she heard her foster daughters' cries and found her.

"She was crying and pleading that they would stop and not try again, because this is not good. She did not want me to touch her, she just said: 'awful, very bad', tears running down her cheeks," said the mother.

She took the girl home.

"She still did not want to speak or be touched. I then asked her if I could lie next to her and then we can cry together. By then I saw all the blood and realised she was raped. We cried together," said the distraught mother.

The case has been postponed until March 22.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!


Tags: orphanage, orphan, rape, South Africa, Bulgaria, Boris Velchev, Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, BHC, children, Asylum, prosecutors, Galina Toneva, Bulgarian, girl

Back  

» Related Articles:

Search

Search