Woman raped during house robbery

A Port Elizabeth woman was raped during a house robbery in Motherwell early on Wednesday morning.

The 27-year-old woman, whose identity is being withheld due to the nature of the crime, was raped in her home in NU5 Motherwell – about 4km away from where a robbery, rape and abduction took place last week.

Police spokesperson Captain Andre Beetge said the incident happened at about 4am when a 41-year-old man - the uncle of alleged victim - woke to a noise in the house.

"He went to investigate and was confronted by two men in the lounge," Beetge said.

"The men overpowered him before covering his face with clothing that was lying on the couch.

"They ordered that he lie on the couch and if he moved, they would kill him.”

Beetge said the men then ransacked the house.

"They stole the television, hi-fi set and other items in the house. The men then left the house and when the homeowner heard a car pulling off, he got up.”

Two of his nieces live with him.

"He went to the bedrooms, where a niece told him she had been raped,” Beetge said.

"The police were alerted minutes later and attempts are being made to locate the suspects."

This comes only seven days after another woman was repeatedly raped after she was abducted and held hostage by two knife-wielding attackers trying to steal her vehicle.

The 27-year-old woman was attacked inside her home in NU4 Motherwell – about 800m from the Motherwell Shopping Complex - at about 11pm.

She was abducted, raped several times and then dropped off back at her house by the two men.

Detectives are looking into whether the same suspects are involved with both attacks.

Beetge said that both cases were being investigated by Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Investigations unit, which has been roped in to work with the Serious Violent Crime unit.

Asked about progress in the case, Beetge said: "The investigation is at a sensitive stage and we are not able to disclose any details of this case at the moment."