Teens track down rapists

2005-02-21 12:04

Zenzele Kuhlase

Siyabuswa - Two teenaged girls who skipped school to track down two men who had raped them, finally nabbed one of them on Friday morning.

Mpumalanga police arrested the suspect, a teacher at another high school, at his home in Siyabuswa, north of Witbank.

"These girls had taken great care to listen to the men's conversations and find clues as to who they might be," said Siyabuswa police spokesperson Inspector Jan Sepato.

The girls, aged 14 and 17, live in Thabane village just outside Siyabuswa.

They were hitchhiking home after a school athletics meeting in Siyabuswa when they were picked up at about 19:00.

There were three men in a maroon Jetta and they stopped at a tavern to buy beers.

The girls refused to drink anything.

Back in the car, the driver apparently phoned someone called Sipho and then drove the girls through Thabane village without stopping at their homes.

Instead, the girls were taken to a hill between Ekosini and Ramokeletsane village, where two of the men raped and beat them.

When the men left, the girls managed to walk to a nearby clinic for treatment. Police were called to take statements and the girls were taken home.

"We opened a rape and assault case, but the girls decided to hunt down the rapists and bring them to the police," said Sepato. "We were all surprised when we heard how they had solved the case."

The girls said they had returned to the tavern to ask if anyone knew the driver of a maroon Jetta who had a friend called Sipho.

They traced the car to a house and kept watch until they finally saw the driver on Thursday afternoon.

On Friday morning, they took police to his house and he was arrested while preparing for work.

He is expected to appear in the Siyabuswa magistrate's court soon.

The girls have been advised not to track down their other attacker, but to let police finish the job.

- African Eye