CAPE TOWN - Free State police on Monday appealed to residents to assist with information that could lead to the arrest of a suspect who kidnapped three girls and raped one of them in Botshabelo.
Police spokesperson, Sergeant Martin Xuma said that on Saturday at around 2.30pm three friends were playing inside a yard of one of the houses in Section E, Botshabelo. An unknown male called the girls aged between six and eight.
“He said they should walk together to the local shop as he will buy sweets for them. The unknown male gave the girls money to buy sweets as he waited outside the shop. He allegedly took the girls to Section C in Botshabelo and allegedly raped the eight-year-old girl inside an abandoned building leaving the two outside,” Xuma said in a statement.
He said the two that were left outside went to a nearby house and house owners alerted the police about the girls and police managed to reunite them with their parents.
The suspect took the eight-year-old to Section B where he raped the victim again near a local park inside a churchyard.
He then left the victim there and she went to a nearby house. Police were summoned to the house and the victim informed police what had happened. She was reunited with her parents and a case of kidnapping and rape was opened for investigation.
“The suspect was wearing a red jersey, brown trousers and a sporty."