Community members and police have been following trails and information since Sunday morning, and they now fear the worst.
According to Boksburg SAPS spokesperson Sgt Cebisa Maseko, it is believed that the teenage girl, who cannot be named at this stage, was abducted by a group of BaSotho men, during the wee hours of Sunday.
Three suspects, aged between 22 and 28, have been arrested and taken into custody following the heart-rending incident.
The school-going girl was asleep in her shack when the BaSotho men reportedly arrived in the early hours and smashed the windows to get into the shack, in Angelo informal settlement.
Following a struggle, the suspects then dragged the defenceless girl to an unknown location, where they took turns raping her.
The suspects allegedly told the police that they had thrown the girl down a nearby disused mineshaft.
Loved ones, a large contingent of police officers, including those from the search and rescue unit, DRD Gold and E-Track, and community members launched a search for the girl in the shaft and the nearby bushes, on Sunday.
Authorities and the community spent hours combing the area near the shaft and the veld near her home, but found nothing. The search resumed this morning (Tuesday), but nothing has been found so far.
Police have roped in private companies to assist with the search. But this hasn’t yielded any results.
Some of the girl’s clothes were reportedly found nearby, causing more concern about her life and whereabouts.
The police and community members believe that the attack on the girl could be linked to a drunken fight between a group of BaSotho and one of the girl’s family members, in a nearby tavern.
The family member allegedly had a fight with a group of BaSotho moments before the attackers stormed the family’s shack and abducted the girl.
Police registered a rape case, but this was later changed to kidnapping and rape cases.
“There is no breakthrough and we are pleading with community members to come forward with information,” said Maseko.
The girl’s family and community members said the incident had left them deeply traumatised, and they indicated that they remain unconvinced that their child was thrown down the shaft in question.
They suspect that the girl was dumped elsewhere, and suggested that they, along with the police, should go door-to-door looking for the girl, evidence or information.
One neighbour, Bulelani Bulangwe, described the incident as a terrible thing to have happened to somebody.
“It’s terrifying, and we now all fear for our safety here,” he said.
“We’ve always had such a safe place in this community, but things have changed for the worst of late.”
He described the teenager as ”a good girl, who was not wayward”.
“She spent most of her spare time indoors, and she was not like her peers who go to taverns at night.
“You would only see her carrying her school bag going to school or coming from school,” Bulangwe added. -@FanieFLK
Click here to view more photos: Major hunt underway for girl abducted by a group of BaSotho men
