UPDATE: Three men appear in court for rape of 15-year-old girl
At around 00:30 they found the vitim in the field. A counsellor was called and the girl was treated immediately.
MBOMBELA – Three suspects, alleged to have been involved in an armed robbery, the abduction and rape of a 15-year-old-girl this morning, were arrested earlier today.
Capt Dawie Pretorius, spokesman for Mbombela SAPS, confirmed that three men were taken into custody, but no official charges have been laid.
“We are investigating the sensitive matter,” said Pretorius.
If they can be connected to the crime they will be charged with armed robbery, abduction and rape.
Girl (15) raped by three men this morning
MBOMBELA – A 15-year-old girl was abducted from her home in a compound on the Glenwood road and raped in a nearby field by three armed men in the early hours of Thursday morning.
About 40 SAPS officials and numerous members from Nelspruit Concerned Citizens (NCC), ACS Security and residents of the R40 were on the scene minutes after the incident.
According to Col Leonard Hlati, spokesman for the provincial SAPS, three men have been arrested in relation to the crime, but have not yet been charged. An investigation is underway to determine whether they are the suspects.
On Wednesday afternoon, three armed men with balaclavas held up the compound and robbed its residents of all their money. Two men were armed with hand weapons, the other with a knife. According to Capt Dawie Pretorius, spokesman for Mbombela SAPS, the incident happened around 17:00.
“They took the little money those people had,” said a member of NCC.
The suspects allegedly took the girl with them and they fled on foot into a nearby field where she was said to have been raped by all three assailants.
SAPS were called and they arrived within minutes to search for the girl and the suspects. At around 00:30 they found the vitim in the field. A counsellor was called and the girl was treated immediately.
She apparently had to accompany police members into the field and indicated places where the suspects shoved her under bushes whenever the police helicopter flew over with a search light. According to Meintjes, they threatened to kill her and her family if she did not comply.
The child was taken to hospital for treatment. Hlati did not want to disclose which hospital for the safety of the child and her family.
