Publications
- Police have arrested a man for the rape and murder of a 5-year-old girl.
- The arrest took two years because the police were waiting for DNA results.
- The child's mother and two other people are accused of trying to cut his penis off.
Eastern Cape police have finally arrested a man for the rape and murder of a 5-year-old girl in 2019.
Little Chantelle Makwena was left in the care of three adults in the Rocklands Farm area of Gqeberha, when her mom and aunt went out on 2 August 2019.
When her mother got home around 22:00, the door was open, and the adults and her child were gone. The toddler was found dead in a toilet the next day after a search.
She had been raped, and her head and face were severely beaten.
Police spokesperson Colonel Priscilla Naidu said the child's father found her body on 3 August.
The suspect was a man who had been released on bail after being accused of a rape in 2018.
READ | DNA tests backlog ‘delaying justice’, says Police minister
The child's bereft mother Veronique Makweni, family friend Siyabonga Pakade, and Makweni's sister-in-law have been charged with attempted murder for allegedly trying to cut the accused's penis off.
News24 reported previously that it had been reattached.
The matter will return to court on 15 September.
In the meantime, Naidu said the investigating officer finally received the DNA results on Saturday, and promptly arrested the man for the rape and murder of the little girl.
He is due to appear in court soon.
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