Serial rapist arrested, linked to 5 cases, Inanda, Durban

South African Police Service

Serial rapist arrested, linked to 5 cases, Inanda, Durban
Serial rapist arrested, linked to 5 cases, Inanda, Durban

The South African Government has made a clarion call galvanizing all sectors of the society to rally behind the fight against all forms of abuse perpetuated against women and children. The South African Police Service is mandated to lead the war against this scourge which has dominated conversations in all platforms of the society. Many perpetrators of such crimes have been arrested by the South African Police Service and handed hefty sentences. But there are those who are not heeding the call to cease the abuse against vulnerable groups in our communities and hope to continue doing so unabated. Unfortunately for them there is no room for such behaviour in our society.

Meticulous investigating skills coupled with a lot of hard work and meticulous suspect tracing abilities resulted in the arrest of a 29-year-old suspect for five cases of rape by the Inanda Family Violence Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit (FCS) at Ngoqokazi area in the early hours of Saturday morning, 16 May 2020.

Five cases of rape with the similar modus operandi had been reported at the Inanda police station from June 2019 to April 2020. The victims alleged that they had met an individual on Facebook who had promised them a job at a tuck-shop. Once the desperate female shows interest in the vacancy the suspect would then direct them to take a taxi from where they are from to Durban and from Durban to Inanda.

The suspect mainly target females who were not from Durban. Once the female has indicated that they had arrived he would then fetch them as if he was taking them to where they would be employed. He would take them on a route which goes through a river where he would allegedly turn on them and rape them. He would also rob them of their valuable items such as cellular phones and money. Other victims alleged that they were called by a female who was looking for someone to be a nanny for her child. On the day when they are supposed to meet her, she would then inform them that a male is going to fetch them from where taxi had dropped them off. Upon arrival the male would take them through the same route and allegedly rape them at knife point. The suspect used the cover of darkness effectively, he insisted that the victims must board the taxi late so that he would be able to fetch them when it was dark.

Inanda FCS detectives realizing that there was a possible rapist operating in the area and that they needed to act fast in trying to catch the perpetrator hence preventing further violation of women. They initiated an investigation and they were immediately confronted with the challenge that the victims did not know their assailant hence they could not provide a description of him. He also constantly changed his Facebook accounts which made identifying him a serious challenge for the detectives. The other conundrum faced by the investigators was that because the victims were not familiar with the area they could not identify where he had taken them. Nevertheless he still needed to be found.

Inanda FCS detectives scrutinized every small bit of information they encountered in trying to establish the identity of their suspect. In their quest and following information the detectives traveled to Lusikisiki in the Eastern Cape and from that trip they were able to put together the puzzle.

They were able to establish the identity of the suspect and the fact the he was around Amaoti area. The detectives endured long hours and sleepless nights in trying to locate where their target stayed at Inanda. Finally their hard work paid off Saturday morning at about 00:50 the suspect was finally cornered in a house at Ngoqokazi hiding inside a drum. He was arrested, charged with five counts of rape and will appear at the Ntuzuma Magistrate Court on Monday, 18 May 2020. Investigations are still ongoing and there is a possibility that he could be linked to more rape cases. Women who were violated under the above circumstances and who are yet to report to the police are urged to come forward and do so.

South Africa Today – South Africa News

SOURCESouth African Police Service