Violence against children has once again reared its ugly head in Phoenix and has left the community reeling in shock and anger after the tragic death of eight-year-old Trinity Govender of Trentcroft, Phoenix, who allegedly suffered years of abuse at the hands of her mother and stepfather.
Govender, who was laid to rest last Wednesday, was on the road to recovery following an unfortunate incident that left her with third degree burns on Friday, 9 September, on a day when she should have been at school. According to reports from family members, the eight-year-old had been instructed to serve customers at her stepfather’s tuckshop and had been locked inside for hours when she allegedly began playing with a lighter which caught fire on her t-shirt, causing third degree burns to her upper body.
Speaking to the Phoenix Tabloid, Trinity’s grandfather, Soobramoney Naidoo said his granddaughter was left to burn for several minutes before someone could rescue her from the locked and chained tuckshop.
“Trinity was left alone to see to customers at the tuckshop while her mother and stepfather went to open their stall at the Phoenix Plaza. When she got burnt and was crying hysterically inside the locked tuckshop, the neighbours thought it was just another episode of the usual beating she always gets from the parents, so they didn’t even bother to check what was happening,” said Naidoo.
He said after his son’s passing they were denied access and visitation rights to their grandchildren and therefore were not aware of the ongoing abuse to Trinity and her sibling. “I was in shock when I received the call about what had happened the following day. The reaction from the neighbours simply tells of how my granddaughter had been assaulted on many other occasions. She was only rescued minutes later by a man from Johannesburg, who had been working next door,” said Naidoo.
He said: “I’m very disturbed by the amount of pain and abuse she endured at the hands of those who were entrusted to love and protect her. She was the most intelligent young girl but when I went to her school to inform them about the incident, I was told that she had developed a brain of a four-year-old child – this was clearly due to the amount of abuse and torture she experienced daily at home.”
Abdul Gafoor, one of the men who saved Trinity that fateful Friday morning said: “We were working on the same road on the morning of the incident when I began hearing a loud scream that sounded like a child getting a hiding. A few minutes later we could still hear the loud screams and this didn’t sit well with me, one of the guys then said to me, that’s normal, that child gets locked up and catches hiding all the time. My son, Abdul Ali who was with me on the day, suddenly pushed me out of the way and ran across the road and as he was running, I saw the little girl behind the burglar bar at the tuckshop on fire so I quickly filled water in a bottle and ran behind my son. When he reached the property, he was attacked by three dogs which we managed to get out of the way to save the little girl who was crying hysterically inside the tuckshop.”
“The burglar bar from the tuckshop had been chained and hand-locked but with the help of a neighbour and another guy who was with us, we all pulled and eventually snapped the lock open. I quickly ran to pour water onto the child and managed to douse off the flames on the front and back of her t-shirt. I asked her where her parents were and she told me that they were not home. A few minutes after the incident, her stepfather pulled up and I said to him, sir your daughter has been badly burnt, please take her to hospital immediately. Shockingly, he casually got out of the car and began to smoke a cigarette instead. When a police officer came, I told him to lock the guy up as he blatantly refused to take the little girl to hospital. I asked the residents where the nearest hospital was because I was ready to take her myself. From what I could observe in a few minutes, the stepfather never liked that child. She was only a child and didn’t deserve any of the bad things she went through, that little girl deserves justice,” said Gafoor.
The traumatised 14-year-old brother of little Trinity wept uncontrollably as he spoke of the alleged abuse perpetrated on him and his sister by his mother and stepfather. “My sister was abused emotionally, physically and verbally on a daily basis. Both my mother and stepfather used to beat her with belts, shoes and anything else they could find. They used to embarrass us in front of people and I was also beaten up but not everyday. After school I was made to run the tuckshop or sell at the stall at Phoenix Plaza while my small sister was forced to do house work, mop the floors, wash dishes and clothes,” said the young boy.
“I wish I could have done something to stop them, it killed me to see my sister getting hiding every single day, whenever I tried to protect her, I would also get beaten. My sister was a very friendly person, I loved her so much and she loved me to bits. My heart is broken, I will miss her forever,” said the emotional brother.
Trinity’s aunt, Anusha Pillay said the family wants justice for the little girl and called on the police to be investigated. “There was more than one police vehicle at the scene of the incident, but no case was open. This wasn’t a small, petty incident, a child ended up with third degree burns, what is SAPS excuse for having no details regarding this case. We want my nephew to be legally removed from the care of his mother and placed with his grandparents so he can have a normal childhood. She also has other children from her current partner of which the law needs to investigate whether they are also being abused because she is unfit and incapable of looking after her children. No child should ever have to go through something like this,” said Pillay.
Trinity’s mother, Denise Govender refuted the allegations of abuse and said that they were false. She said: “No mother in her right sense would abuse her own children. My daughter was a fit and healthy child and the allegations that she was abused or ill treated are false. A child that is neglected would be an under nourished child. Trinity used to always play with a lighter and on the day of the incident, she had a nylon top on and had used perfume on her top and that’s how she caught on fire.”
Govender said 9 September was the first time that they had left Trinity alone at the tuckshop, to serve customers. “It had never happened before. My son worked at the tuckshop and at the Phoenix Plaza because that’s the same money that puts food on the table and the same money where he gets his clothes and stationery from. Trinity died after her wounds had turned septic. She became critical after the infection got into her blood stream. A day before she passed away, she was not responding and had become brain dead and that’s how we lost her,” said Govender.
The director of Phoenix Child Welfare, Aroona Chetty urged families and neighbours that suspect child abuse and neglect to contact the organisation and the police. “We urge families and neighbours to contact the SAPS and the child welfare with proper details so that we can investigate the matter urgently. The community is obligated to report such matters so that help can be given to the child that is faced with abuse and neglect. We were very upset and saddened to hear about Trinity’s death as we were praying for her recovery from hospital. The Phoenix Child Welfare would like to thank the community for taking an interest in the care and well being of children and reporting abuse matters,” said Chetty.
