Police in South Africa are investigating a case in which two girls aged 1 and 5 are reported to have been raped by a 14-year-old.

It’s alleged that the 14-year-old boy sexually assaulted the children in Pietermaritzburg.

The teen has been placed in the care of a family member while a social worker assesses him.

The police’s Thembeka Mbele told local media: “We can’t arrest the 14-year-old but he is processed under the charges of rape and that means it is also the social workers are called in. Once the process is done, and the decision is taken by courts whether that person is arrested or what we do, but that directive comes from the court.”