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A concerned mother called the Maokeng police on Thursday at about 3.30pm about the alleged rape of her daughter by the 55-year-old male, reports Bloemfontein Courant.
While the police interviewed the child at a police station, another call came in alerting the police that community members were busy assaulting the man accused of raping the little girl.
Members quickly rushed to the scene and on arrival found a badly wounded 55-year-old male lying on the ground. He was taken to hospital for further treatment. It was also discovered that the victim`s shack had been torched to ashes.
During the interview with the Family Violence Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit (FCS) in the presence of the parents, it was discovered that the 10-year-old child had actually lied about the rape, simply to conceal her whereabouts on that day.
The victim of mob justice is recovering in hospital, but has lost all his belongings. Kroonstad Cluster Commander Brigadier Mbeloane strongly condemned acts of mob justice and advised community members to allow the police to do their job.
“An innocent man is lying in hospital and has lost everything because people took matters into their own hands. Anyone who took part in the assault and the burning of the victim’s shack will face the full might of the law,” said Mbeloane.
She further advised the community to contact the nearest police station to report any crime.
A case of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm has been registered for further investigation.