Missing girl found after 12hrs

2007-03-26 08:45

Johannesburg - An eight-year-old Hanover Park girl was found on Sunday after being held captive for 12 hours, it was reported on Monday.

Police spokesperson Captain Elliot Sinyangana said the girl had been reported missing at 23:00 on Saturday.

"But, the girl's parents and the community had already been out looking for her since about 21:00. She was sent to an address to go and find somebody at that house, but then this man (from another house) apparently called her into his home and locked her in with him."

Sinyangana said neighbourhood watch members from Hanover Park and Manenberg helped search for the girl and found her on Sunday at around 09:00.

When police tried to arrest the man who allegedly kidnapped the girl, violence erupted as hundreds of angry residents tried to attack him.

Shenaarz Salie, chairperson of Concerned Residents of Hanover Park, said they had wanted "to punish" the man.

"There was a massive clash where this man lives, in Kariba Court. Residents wanted to hit him. They wanted to see this guy pay for what he did to the little girl.

"There was shooting and screaming. A number of residents got a little hurt during the fighting. It was like there were bullets flying everywhere," she said.

Sinyangana said residents fired shots and threw stones at police officers, who retaliated with stun grenades.

During the clash a police officer was shot in the leg and was rushed to a private hospital in a stable condition, he said.

The 35-year-old man was arrested on charges of rape and abduction. He would appear in the Wynberg magistrate's court on Tuesday.

- SAPA