EMPANGENI’S ‘Satanic’ serial rapist has struck again, claiming his fourth known victim.
The self-proclaimed agent of Satan lured a 19-year-old girl to a sugar cane field next to the R34 near Empangeni on Saturday, 2 May.
He raped her in broad daylight, and calmly walked away.
Princess (identity withheld), a resident of Melmoth, was returning to the Empangeni A Rank at about 11am, after completing a shift as a temporary worker at a shopping centre in town.
She was approached by a man, who asked her if she was looking for work.
‘He called his boss, and I heard him saying he had found someone who was looking for work,’ Princess told the Zululand Observer.
The man then handed the phone to her and she heard someone say ‘hello’ before the call was cut. He told her he would take her to his boss’ house.
They walked together past the A Rank and on the R34 toward Ngwelezane. He then took her down a footpath which led into the sugar cane.
‘While we were walking he told me they needed a new cleaner, as the other girl who had been working for them had started drinking on the job and they had to chase her away.
He was nice and friendly to me,’ explained Princess.
On the footpath, he asked her if she knew where the path went.
‘I said he was supposed to know, as he was leading me there. He then told me to sit down and shut up,’ she said.
The suspect started threatening her with violence if she screamed. She began to cry, and he told her again to keep quiet.
She was shown tattoos on his arms and body, which he said were ‘proof that he was a Satanist’.
Princess was warned if she told anyone about him, ‘snakes would grow in my belly after which I would die’.
‘I was crying the whole time. After he was done, he took my bag with money, my cellphone and my underwear before he walked away.’
A terrified Princess stayed in the field for almost an hour as instructed. It was only a few days later, after reporting the
incident to the police that she finally realised he could not hurt her in the ways he threatened.
‘At first I believed him,’ she said. ‘I was afraid. Now I am not.’
Members of the Empangeni Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences unit have been assigned to the case and say it is only a matter of time before the rapist is caught.
The suspect has tattoos on both arms, one showing a snake on his left wrist, and a silver filling on one of his front teeth shaped liked an upside down ‘T’.
He is an African male in his late 30s to early 40s.
He is accused of raping another three women since April, luring them all to secluded spots on the pretence of getting them jobs.
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