Mpumalanga police have been accused of dragging their feet in arresting a grandmother and aunt of a 13-year-old girl who was allegedly raped by her uncle and forced to abort the fetus.

The mother of the victim, who cannot be named to protect the child's identity, told Sowetan yesterday her daughter can't go to write exams in KaNyamazane, because she fears her aunt, granny and other family members might kill her.

Police arrested the uncle on October 20 after the victim went to her stepmother's place to fit new clothes.

The stepmother asked her to do a pregnancy test as she suspected she might be pregnant before the victim divulged that she allegedly just aborted the pregnancy with the help of her grandmother and aunt.

The girl told Sowetan her ordeal started in May when the man forced himself on her, on the couch, while her grandmother was away, but this was seen by other children in the house.

"One day the younger kids were telling my grandmother what they saw happening to me on the couch and she told them to shut up and never to talk about it again," the girl said.

She said the man allegedly raped her several times after the first incident. The girl said her situation became worse when her aunt's boyfriend also allegedly started raping her too.

The stepmother could not keep the news to herself, she told the police and the father of the victim, including her biological mother.

"I'm scared for my child's life, these people were just swearing at us today when we went to fetch her exam time-table. They promised that they will win, but it's scary how they initially tried to do something bad to her, so that she does not testify.

" The police does not want to arrest them, because they played part in making sure that the child is raped rapidly and also played part to abort the pregnancy without telling me or her father as biological parents," she said.

Yesterday, the 32-year-old uncle appeared in the KaBokweni magistrate's court for bail application, however, the case was postponed to November 28 after his lawyer was not available in court.

Police spokesperson Brigadier Leonard Hlathi asked for patience, saying they were waiting for a directive from the prosecution to make arrests.