Hospital hearing intorape of abducted tourist?
2002-11-19 08:21
Johannesburg - Two more suspects linked to the rape of a British tourist in Mpumalanga at the weekend have been arrested. A man, who stopped to help the woman and her companion, was shot dead.
Four men have been arrested so far in connection with the rape of the 29-year-old woman and the murder of the motorist, say SABC news reports.
And, says police senior superintendent Mary Martins-Engelbrecht, court will be convened in an Mpumalanga hospital if necessary to deal with the hearing of the four, three of whom were wounded during their arrests.
The men would be charged with with rape, armed robbery, assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm, kidnapping and murder, she said.
After a massive manhunt, the two were arrested on Tuesday morning. The other two suspects, who were arrested soon after the attack, were due to appear in the Barberton magistrate's court later on Tuesday.
The British woman and a friend were abducted on the Long Tom Pass on Saturday. The woman was repeatedly raped.
They were driven around Mpumalanga for about 14 hours. They escaped when the attackers overturned the hijacked vehicle on the Badplaas-Barberton road.
Shots fired, two men hit
Police senior superintendent Mary Martins-Engelbrecht said the serious and violent crimes unit and the dog unit from Middleburg had moved into Hlalakahle township in the Masoye Lowveld at 03:00 on Tuesday and flushed out two men who, when they saw the police, tried to run away.
Shots were fired and a 20-year-old man was shot in the bladder and a 21-year-old was shot in a leg. Both were arrested and taken to hospital.
Martins-Engelbrecht said the two arrested men would be charged within 48 hours with rape, armed robbery, assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm, kidnapping and murder.
One of the two men arrested on Sunday, who was injured while resisting arrest, was still in hospital, but the other had been discharged into police custody.
All four are due to appear in Barberton magistrate's court, but the court will be convened in the hospital if necessary.
She said police could not disclose which hospital it was for security reasons.
- SAPA