PREVIEW: Vryheid serial rapist captured after he stole a car
The youngest victim to come forward was 18-years old and the oldest was 67-years old.
AN investigation into the theft of a motor vehicle has led to the capture of a man believed to be a serial rapist, who has attacked at least six women in Vryheid over a period of four years.
Vryheid SAPS communications officer, Captain Cheryl Venter, said the 31-year old man, who can only be named once he has had the opportunity to plead guilty or not guilty, was arrested on Thursday and made his first court appearance at the Vryheid Magistrates Court on Friday.
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“He was arrested in connection with the theft of a motor vehicle and when his DNA was put through the DNA database, we discovered that this was the person being sought after by the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) Unit for multiple cases of rape,” said Captain Venter.
Investigating officer, Sergeant Thabani Gule, said the six rapes that the man is being charged with took place between 2011 and 2015, with the youngest victim to come forward being 18-years old and the oldest being 67-years old.
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“It seems that the attacker was watching women as they walked to work in the morning or returned home in the evening. He would wait for an opportunity, when they were alone and then drag them into surrounding bushes or the veld, threatening them at knifepoint. In some cases, the attacker was wearing a balaclava but in other cases the victims were too traumatised to give us a description of the rapist,” said Sgnt Gule.
Read the full story on the front page of today’s edition of the Vryheid Herald newspaper!
