Horrifying details have emerged of how two little girls – aged five and six – were abducted and raped, with one being savagely beaten within an inch of her life and callously tossed among the rubbish at a dumpsite.
After the little girls were found following an all-night search, enraged New Brighton residents threatened to kill the 49-year-old suspect should he be released.
Police are also investigating a possible link with the abduction and murder in September last year of Sonia Payi, 7, whose body was found just a few hundred metres from where the six-year-old was dumped.About 80 residents and a number of police officers, including K9 Search and Rescue, detectives and others, as well as the police helicopter, combed a large area throughout the night, until both girls were found – one shortly after midnight and the other just before 5am.
The girls, described by residents as best friends, had last been seen playing in an open field near Struanway.
They have both been admitted to Dora Nginza Hospital.
“The girls went missing at about 6pm,” police spokesman Captain Andre Beetge said.
“The parents first went to their known friends’ houses and when they could not find them, they came to the police at about 7pm.
“Several units were deployed, and when the girls had not been located by 11pm, the search was escalated and more resources deployed.
“Police, together with residents, went door to door, street by street, while the helicopter scanned the area and search dogs combed the bushes and shack area.”
Beetge said the six-year-old, who had been left for dead on the nearby informal dumpsite next to the Chevrolet Stadium near Struanway – about 1km from the suspect’s house – had been found shortly after midnight.