A teenager accused of raping an 8-year-old girl and gouging out her left eye will be sent for 30-day mental assessment at Fort Napier Hospital in KwaZulu-Natal.

National Prosecuting Authority spokeswoman Natasha Ramkisson said the Magistrate's Court in Mthunzini on Tuesday granted the State's request for the observation to be undertaken.

Ramkisson said she could not provide a specific date when the teenager would be admitted to the hospital, which specialises in psychiatric cases, but expected that it would be within the next week.

The teenager is alleged to have dragged the girl into a sugarcane field near her home, where she was assaulted and raped in April.

The girl's left eye was gouged out of the socket and she was left bleeding profusely from both eyes.

She had been walking home from school at the time.

Her attacker also bit her neck.

The girl was treated at Ngwelezane Hospital.

The boy's grandmother alerted the police when people accused him of the crime.

It is alleged that the boy earlier attacked another girl at school.

The teenager faces a charge of rape and two of attempted murder.