Police in Mpumalanga are requesting parents to always keep an eye on their children following a string of rape incidents reported in the Vosman area involving minors.
The provincial police spokesperson, Brigadier Selvy Mohlala said the rape incidents date from March 31, when a seven-year-old was abducted from the street she was playing in, raped, assaulted, and dumped and told to find her way home by herself.
He said from then a number of similar incidents involving children aged between seven and 13 were reported.
“As a result, this prompted a team of detectives to conduct a docket analysis to assess this complex investigation and a preliminary conclusion drawn suggests that police might be facing an investigation involving suspect/s with a paedophilic disorder as only young girls have been victimised and have been raped within a short space of time.
“Currently, police in Vosman working in partnership with the Nkangala District Detectives and have roped in the services of experts from Head Office as well as Provincial Detectives to assist in connecting the dots in this investigation where identity-kits of the alleged suspect(s) have been extracted as part of the investigation.
“Police therefore request the assistance of the community members to come forward with information which may lead to the arrest of the perpetrators,” Mohlala said.
Police have urged members of the public to look closely at the identikits released and see if they are not able to link it to the wanted suspects.
Mpumalanga Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Semakaleng Daphney Manamela requested members of the community not to take the law into their own hands but share any information that might assist in the investigation with the police.
Anyone with information may please call Sergeant Nelson Ndimande at 071 331 5017 or Crime Stop on 08600 10111. Alternatively, police can be contacted via MYSAPSapp. All received information will be treated with strict confidentiality.
robin.francke@inl.co.za
IOL