E Cape tourist rapes 'shocking'
2010-07-26 09:14
Richard Roberts, Die Burger
Port Elizabeth – Two young tourists were raped in separate incidents in the Eastern Cape at the weekend – near the Addo Elephant Park and at Storms River.
In one of the incidents, a German boy, 14, was forced to sit quietly and keep quiet while his cousin, 15, was raped by two men who were armed with knives.
The boy and his cousin were fast asleep on Saturday at about 05:45 when a man apparently climbed through the window of their chalet and opened the door for his accomplice.
"They attacked the teenagers, pulled a blanket over the boy's head and apparently raped the girl," said police spokesperson lieutenant colonel Priscilla Naidu.
The incident happened at the Lenmore Bed and Breakfast in the main road near the Addo Elephant Park.
Naidu was unable to say on Sunday where the tourists were now. The suspects were still on the run.
"The asked the children to keep quiet. One of the men asked them not to leave the room for an hour after they had left."
"Fifteen minutes later, however, the children started screaming and their family members in the room next to them went to them," said Naidu. The owner of the bed and breakfast apparently had to help open the locked door. The owner did not want to talk about the incident on Sunday.
The boy's two brothers, in their early twenties, were sleeping in the room next door. According to the police, the girl's mother was staying at a bed and breakfast further down the road.
"The family is on vacation in South Africa as schools in Germany were closed," said Naidu.
The boy and girl had given a description of the men to police. A camera and some of the teens' personal belongings had been stolen.
In Storms River, a Dutch woman, 22, was also raped in the early hours of the morning. The 27-year-old suspect will appear on Monday in the local magistrate's court. The woman, a volunteer at a nursery school in the area, had spent Friday night with friends. She went home on Saturday morning.
"On the way there, a man who was known to the victim, offered to walk with her. He then overpowered her at a densely wooded area and raped her," said Naidu.
The woman reported the matter to the police. According to Naidu, the man, whom the foreigner only knew by his nickname, was also known to police. The woman had arrived a week ago in Storms River and would have left on August 14. Naidu could also not say on Sunday where the woman was now.
Veliswa Mhlapo, spokesperson for the Eastern Cape tourism board, described the incidents as shocking.
She said the tourism board sometimes helped victims who reported such cases to them.
"It is too bad that something like this has to happen so soon after the World Cup. It places the province in a bad light and frightens off foreign tourists," said Mhlapo.