Three women reportedly kidnapped, gang-raped
Three students from St Anthony's Education Centre were reportedly abducted on Saturday afternoon, January 30, and allegedly gang-raped for the whole night of January 30/31.
The victims are residents of Katlehong and attend St Anthony’s Education Centre, in Reiger Park.
They told the SAPS they were walking from the school, along Archie Jonas Street, on their way home, when they were allegedly abducted by four armed men driving in a white van.
According to Reiger Park SAPS spokesperson Sgt Mashudu Phathela, he was told the four thugs, described as three coloured men and one black man, pulled over next to the women and pushed them into the van, at gunpoint.
The thugs apparently drove the women to a nearby isolated area, where they tied them with ropes and held them hostage, repeatedly taking turns to rape them, throughout the night.
One of the victims, an 18-year-old woman, said she managed to untie the rope and escape at about 3am, on Monday, February 1.
The attackers allegedly opened fire on her as she was fleeing from their clutches.
The other two women are still missing.
The Gauteng SAPS deployed more teams and a police helicopter across the bushy areas to search for the two missing women.
Also involved in the search are the Dog Unit, a SAPS search-and-rescue team, Reiger Park police and others.
Phathela said that, on the basis of the woman’s complaint, a case of kidnapping and gang rape was registered, and investigations continue.
Once the men responsible for the crimes have been arrested, more charges could be added as the investigation continued.
* The incident is the latest in a series of high-profile cases to have shone a spotlight on women’s safety in Boksburg in recent months.
Late last month, a woman’s naked body was found floating in the Boksburg Lake, close to the shore near the Boksburg Library.
The circumstances surrounding her death remain a mystery, but police are investigating a case of murder.
Further investigation by the police has revealed that the woman was probably strangled and hit with a hard object over the head before her body was dumped in the water.
Police have, however, not yet made a breakthrough in the murder, and there has also been no new development in respect of the woman’s identity. -@FanieFLK
