Police have made a breakthrough in a Mount Ayliff case where a 15-year-old girl was raped and assaulted during Easter weekend.
A man (23) was positively linked to this case and arrested in Mount Ayliff on Thursday, April 21.
Police spokesperson, Brigadier Tembinkosi Kinana, said the arrest
follows a week-long investigation and the suspect is due to appear in the Mount
Ayliff Magistrate’s Court on April 25 on charges of rape and assault with
intent to cause bodily harm.
“According to information, the young woman was on her way home when she was dragged to a nearby forest by an unknown man, where she was raped. It is also alleged that the suspect did not end there but continued to stab her in her upper body, which resulted in her losing her sight,” said Kinana.
He added that she was helped by a passer-by who called an ambulance which transported her to a nearby hospital to receive medical attention.
The Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant
General Nomthetheleli Mene, said she welcomed the arrest of the suspect who is
implicated in the rape charge and torture of the victim.
“His arrest
should be seen as the police’s intentions of ending the high rate of abuse against women
and children in the Province of the Eastern Cape,” said Mene.
She said they
understand that the victim is in pain but she hopes the arrest brings some relief to the girl.
