Sick child leads to arrest of man who ‘forced minors to smoke dagga and raped them’

Free State police are investigating an incident in which two girls, aged five and eight, were allegedly raped by a suspect who forced them to smoke dagga.

Details of the ordeal emerged when the mother of the five-year-old asked her daughter on Sunday why she was not feeling well.

“The girl told her mother a known man allegedly forced her and her friend, aged eight, to smoke dagga. Both girls were taken to the police station and police immediately took them to hospital for examination,” said police spokesperson Warrant Officer Mmako Mophiring.

Upon examination, it was discovered the children had been raped.

The suspect was arrested and is expected to appear before the Makwane magistrate’s court on Wednesday, facing two charges of rape and two of attempted murder.

“This is a sickening and terrible ordeal. I hope justice will prevail. I want to thank our police members for putting the suspect behind bars,” said provincial police commissioner Lt-Gen Baile Motswenyane.

In a separate matter, the family, child protection and sexual offences unit and Tseseng police arrested a 60-year-old suspect who allegedly raped an 11-year-old girl in Tseseng village.

“It is alleged that on May 5 at about 4.45pm a grandmother gave her granddaughter money to buy something at a shop not far from their home. On her way, the girl came across the suspect, who is known to her. He allegedly grabbed her and took her to a dilapidated building where he raped her. A case of rape is being investigated,” said Mophiring.

Mophiring said the suspect appeared briefly before the Tseseng magistrate’s court on a charge of rape and was remanded in custody for legal aid and a formal bail application.

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