KZN police search for kidnappers

2012-09-27 20:30

Durban - KwaZulu-Natal police were searching on Thursday for four men who kidnapped and repeatedly raped a woman for a fortnight.

Colonel Vincent Mdunge said no arrests had been made and the investigations were continuing.

A 22-year-old woman was rescued in Pinetown on Wednesday, after four armed man held her captive at an unknown location in KwaZulu-Natal.

Mdunge said the woman had left her Nkandla home, on September 12, to do some shopping in Eshowe. When she was done, she went to a taxi rank, where an unknown man directed her to a white taxi.

"In the taxi she found four male occupants. After a short while, the taxi left the rank; on their way, they picked up another woman," Mdunge said.

Deviating from its usual route, the taxi turned towards Empangeni and drove into sugar cane fields.

The taxi then drove off, leaving the two women, who were repeatedly raped by the four men for several hours.

"After being raped, the women were taken in a black Toyota Corolla to a house with no windows or ventilation, where they were raped again," Mdunge said.

One of the women tried to fight back, but she was shot and killed.

The rescued woman had told police that the four men took turns raping them, and also demanded a ransom from their families.

The woman was rescued by police on Wednesday, after her kidnappers took her to a bank in Pinetown, where she was supposed to withdraw the ransom money her family had deposited, Mdunge said.

- SAPA