A 15-year-old girl was locked out of her uncle’s house in Ikageng and was allegedly raped by a neighbour at about 22:00 last Thursday (19 October).
According to Sgt Kelebogile Trom, she left her friend’s house in Ext. 7 at about 21:00 on 19 October and went to her uncle’s place in Ikageng. When she knocked on the door, however, they refused to open for her.
She then walked over to a neighbour’s house to ask whether she could spend the night there. A man opened the door and told her to go straight to the bedroom. Instead, she sat down on the couch, after which he dragged her to the bedroom and tried to offer her a cell phone and a wristwatch. When she refused, he throttled her while she was screaming for help. ‘He continued his stranglehold until she passed out,’ says Trom.
The girl says she came around with the suspect on top of her and in the process of raping her. Thereafter, she fled the scene and ran to the neighbours for help.
‘The police have arrested a 35-year-old man for the alleged rape,’ says Trom.
Week in and week out, the Herald has reported incidents of rape in Ikageng and surrounding areas.
Evidently, the scourge also affects young teens in Ikageng. A week ago, the Herald reported on a 13-year-old girl in Ext. 11 who was allegedly raped by a 30-year-old man. The suspect was later arrested.
By February this year, the Herald had already reported on eight rape cases locally. When presenting the national crime statistics on Tuesday, the police minister, Fikile Mbalula announced that sexual offences had dropped by 4.3 per cent. Lobby groups argue, however, saying the decline has more to do with a growing distrust of the police than a reduction in sexual offences, which appear to be at an all-time high.
According to the police statistics, the Ikageng police station recorded 116 rape cases between April 2015 and March 2016. Between 2016 and March 2017, 124 rape cases were reported at the station.
