Africa-Press – South-Africa. A group of six men and women were arrested after they were allegedly found naked with children aged between four and 12 at a North West church.
The group, aged between 21 and 85, were arrested on Friday in Sondela Phase 1, Boitekong outside Rustenburg after being found with 11 children, some of them their own.
The only individual who was found wearing clothes at the time, was the 34-year-old female church leader, said police.
According to North West police spokesperson Brigadier Sabata Mokgwabone, they got a tip-off from the wife of one of the congregants who had recruited her into the church.
“When she got into the church and found the congregants naked she immediately told the police,” said Mokgwabone.
Mokgwabone said officers arrived at the house used as a church.
The children were removed from the house and handed to social workers for intervention, and ultimately placed under the care of other family members.
The other children whose parents weren’t there were sent home, said Mokgwabone.
According to police, the church leader allegedly set alight the church when she tried burning certain items inside.
She was arrested and charged on Sunday, 5 June, after being released from the hospital where she had been admitted two days earlier for psychological problems, said Mokgwabone.
The six accused appeared in the Rustenburg Magistrate’s Court on Monday on charges of contravention of Section 22 of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act, 2007 (Act No. 32 of 2007) and crimen injuria.
They will remain in custody until 13 June.
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