A 27-YEAR-OLD man who was arrested for allegedly raping a grade 4 pupil and biting part of her ear off in Esperanza near uMzinto last Thursday will appear in the uMzinto Magistrate’s Court today, police spokesman Captain Vincent Pandarum said yesterday.
It is alleged that the nine-year-old victim and two of her cousins of the same age had gone to the taxi rank to wait for the arrival of a relative.
They were approached by a naked man, but ran for safety. The man chased the children and caught up with the victim. The other two managed to get away and alerted the girl’s mother.
The suspect allegedly dragged the girl into the bushes and raped her. During her ordeal, said Pandarum, she heard her mother call and tried to respond, but the man clamped her mouth shut with his hand.
In his anger he allegedly bit off part of her right ear and bit her face.
The suspect was arrested while in hiding at a relative’s house in Flagstaff in the Eastern Cape by police.
Pandarum said the girl is undergoing plastic surgery to have her ear reconstructed.
Police are also investigating the possibility that the suspect is linked to other attacks and rapes in the area.
