'Rapist's' mom gets deadline
2008-08-20 16:02
Thabisile Khoza & France Nyaka
KwaMhlanga - An angry community has given the mother of a rape suspect until Monday to hand over her son to the police or face their wrath.
Angry residents and members of the local community policing service (CPS) stormed to her house in Phola Park near KwaMhlanga, Mpumalanga, on Monday and blamed her son for three rapes that occurred in March and April.
"They warned her to find her son and take him to the KwaMhlanga police station within seven days or they would take the law into their own hands," said police spokesperson Captain Mumsy Cibe on Wednesday.
Cibe said the woman's son was also accused of trying to rape a 15-year-old girl at gunpoint.
The girl was alone at home as her parents had gone to work in Pretoria. She screamed for help and neighbours came to her rescue.
The suspect escaped after he pulled out a butcher's knife and also hurled rocks at the neighbours when they tried to catch him.
One neighbour was injured.
"When the community confronted the suspect's mother, she was angry [and] insisted her son was innocent and that she didn't know about any of the cases," said Cibe.
Cibe said police had not been informed of the march to the suspect's mother's house.
She assured them that police were working hard to track down the suspect.
Ward 4 councillor at the Thembisile local municipality in KwaMhlanga, Kleintjie Mtsweni, said residents had mobilised after discussing the case at a weekly community meeting.
"We agreed to go to the woman and tell her she had to bring her son in. I don't think harm will come to her because I've warned the community to follow the right procedures in the issue and not to hurt anyone," he said.
"I'm not supporting any vigilantism. I just want to work in a community that is free of crime," he said.
Anyone who knows the suspect's whereabouts is asked to call police on (013) 947 4045 or 079 880 9069.