Africa-Press – South-Africa. A third arrest has been made in connection with nine gang rapes committed in the Sekhukhune district of Limpopo between 2017 and 2018.
The person who was arrested, a 31-year-old man, was taken into custody after he was tracked down and found in Ga-Sekororo village, outside Tzaneen, on Tuesday.
Police said he was positively linked to the cases and that two of his accomplices had been behind bars since their arrest in October 2018.
According to Limpopo police spokesperson Motlafela Mojapelo, the rape complainants reported that they were targeted while they were alone in a taxi.
Along the way, one of the men used pepper spray on them while the driver drove to nearby bushes.
“The three perpetrators would then take turns in raping the victims and thereafter rob them of their valuables, such as cellphones and handbags,” Mojapelo said.
By the time the alleged perpetrators, a taxi driver and two friends were arrested in October 2018, Mojapelo said, 10 women aged between 19 and 32 had reportedly been raped and robbed of their valuables in incidents involving a similar modus operandi.
Mojapelo said:
The cases were reported in Mecklenburg, Driekop, Burgersfort and Apel.
“In the first incident that occurred on 29 July 2017 at about 21:45 in the bushes near Ga-Selala village in the Mecklenburg policing area, the driver and his friend allegedly raped a 32-year-old woman and robbed her of valuables.
“In another incident that occurred on 16 September 2018, also in the Mecklenburg policing area, two women were allegedly gang raped by the three suspects and robbed of their valuables.”
Mojapelo said some of the stolen items were found in the men’s possession.
The 31-year-old man is expected to appear in the Mecklenburg Magistrate’s Court on 11 January for a bail application. His two co-accused will return to court on 22 February to apply for bail.
All three men face charges of rape, robbery and possession of suspected stolen properties.
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