The two farmers accused of tying a 9-year-old girl to a tree and then shooting at her are back in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on Monday.

Johannes Potgieter, 33, and Hendrick Dumas, 48, are charged with kidnapping, attempted murder, assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm and the unlawful pointing of a firearm.

At their previous court appearance in June, the court heard that the girl was still too traumatised to give a formal statement on what happened to her.

It is alleged that the girl and three other children had been jogging with their dogs on September 9 last year near Bronkhorstspruit when their dogs ran onto a farm to chase guinea fowl.

The children followed the dogs onto the farm, where they were allegedly accosted by Dumas and Potgieter. Three of the children managed to escape, leaving the 9-year-old behind.

Potgieter and Dumas objected to another postponement at their last appearance and asked the court to have the matter struck from the roll.

The matter has been on the court roll for almost a year and the postponement had been marked as the final one.

The father of the victim, who cannot be named in order to protect the identity of the minor, previously told News24 that his daughter was still tormented by what had happened and asked every day when the trial would be over.

“She is scared that they will come for her again because they are free,” he said.