The 35 year old suspect who was arrested on Friday, 27 December 2019, in Machadodorp, for allegedly raping a 28 year old woman and her four year old daughter, has been remanded in custody pending a bail application on 7 January 2020.
The arrest of the suspect came after reports indicated that on Thursday, 26 December 2019, he went to visit the pair at their place of residence. Moments later he produced a knife, threatened the mother and daughter then directed them to one of the rooms and allegedly raped both of them.
Police were later alerted about the incident by one of the neighbors who became suspicious after seeing the suspect fleeing from the house. They (police) then immediately rushed to the house and confirmed the details of the incident.
Subsequent to the police’ arrival, two cases of rape were opened. Detectives from the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offenses Unit were immediately tasked to investigate the two cases at which an arrest was made in that regard.
While in police custody, the suspect claimed that he is a parolee convict on a murder charge, to which he was sentenced to eight years imprisonment and that he was previously sentenced for house breaking in a separate incident.
Upon thorough investigation, it was discovered that he is not a parolee. However, he was arrested alongside his friend for murder in 2003, and his friend was found guilty and sentenced to eight years imprisonment and later released on a warrant of liberation in 2008.
The suspect was acquitted on the murder case in 2005, however somewhere in 2017, he was arrested for shoplifting where he was fined R100.
The system does not indicate in any way that he is a parolee. The police also found that the suspect used this false information to scare his victims.
The police in Mpumalanga would like to thank the community for their assistance, during the process of investigation into this matter.
South Africa Today – South Africa News
