A 28-year-old woman was allegedly sexually assaulted after passing out in her car in front the Blue Lagoon pub in East London on Saturday morning.
Police said the woman – whose identity is being withheld as the crime is of a sexual nature – believed her drink had been spiked earlier on Friday night.
By Saturday morning, the woman’s company car, which she was driving, was pulled off the road in Port Elizabeth – hours after the anti-hijacking tracking device had been activated.
Police spokesman Captain Andre Beetge said the woman, who is from Mdantsane, claimed to have been sexually assaulted after passing out in the passenger seat of her car outside the pub.
“She says just after midnight on Saturday she went to her car outside to wait for a friend,” he said.
“The woman got in the passenger seat while waiting for her friend to return to drive her.
“Sometime after getting into the car she blanked out. She claimed she woke up in the car but it was parked in the bushes – a distance away from the pub.”
In a panic, the woman rushed to a friend’s house, who took her to the Beacon Bay police station.
“The officials in the Community Service Centre asked her to go to the hospital for a doctor to examine her and return with the necessary form so that the docket could be opened,” he said.
Beetge said the traumatised woman dropped her friend off and drove to Port Elizabeth.
“According to her, she has family here and she wanted to get help from them,” he said.
“However, it appears that when someone drove her car [to the bushes], they did not know the antihijacking deactivation procedure which triggered the alarm with the vehicle tracking company.
“Flying Squad members picked up a VW Polo heading into Port Elizabeth at 11am on Saturday.
“The story was told to police on the scene who took her to Dora Nginza Hospital for treatment.
“In the interim, the company car was impounded for our forensic experts to go through.
“There are several unanswered questions at this stage but detectives are consulting with her.”