Photo: iStock
The safety of women, children, and other vulnerable groups, such as the elderly, must come first, according to a directive from the Limpopo police.
This comes after a 15-year-old was allegedly raped and kidnapped on Christmas Day until 27 December at Tshidzini village in Tshaulu.
The police said that according to the teenager’s mother, she had gone to visit a relative in the same village last week on Saturday, 23 December 2023.
However, on Monday, the mother was contacted and told that her daughter left home intending to play with other children, but she never returned and couldn’t be located.
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Limpopo police spokesperson Brigadier Hlulani Mashaba said the 15-year-old was not reported missing to the police until the girl’s mom was contacted on Wednesday at about 7pm.
“The mother was told that her daughter was found by a passer-by in an abandoned room in the same village. It is suspected that three unknown males were earlier seen coming out of the same room,” Mashaba said.
According to the police, preliminary investigations revealed that the girl was walking home when she was forcefully dragged by three unknown male suspects, who took her to the abandoned house.
After the incident, the trio left her at the house.
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Mashaba added that the girl was raped by one of the suspects on Monday and Tuesday.
“The safety of women and children has reached a critical point. It is against this background that all resources in the Tshaulu policing precinct have been mobilised to apprehend the suspects,” said the Provincial Commissioner of Police in Limpopo, Lieutenant General Thembi Hadebe.
“We must deal with pervasive patriarchal norms that promote the use of violence as an acceptable social practice. It cannot be right that women and children are continuously subjected to inhumane acts. This has to stop.”
A manhunt has since been launched to apprehend the alleged kidnappers and rapists, and investigations are continuing.
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On Sunday, in the North West, a 38-year-old woman was arrested for the rape of a 15-year-old girl at Oudedorp outside Potchefstroom.
North West police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Amanda Funani said the woman was arrested after she forcefully pushed a bottle into the girl’s private parts.
“It is alleged that the suspect and the victim had a quarrel about alcohol, and a fight ensued. Subsequent to the incident, the victim was badly injured and admitted to a local hospital,” Funani said.
The Provincial Commissioner of North West, Lieutenant General Sello Kwena, said he was shocked by the incident and instructed the Family Violence, Child Protection, and Sexual Offences (FCS) Unit to oppose bail and ensure that justice is served.
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