The ICD has arrested a 28 year old constable, who is stationed at Bethlehem Crime Intelligence Gathering for rape and assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
The allegations of the case are that on 14 February at about 02h00, the 30 year old victim from Ficksburg went looking for her boyfriend with whom she had quarreled earlier, to get the keys to the house. As she was walking in the street in Boshokong Township, Bethlehem, she was approached by an unknown male driving a car. He warned her that it was dangerous for a female to be walking alone at that time and offered to help her look for her boyfriend. The victim wanted to phone her boyfriend and the suspect allegedly persuaded her to go make use of public phones in town (Bethlehem) as the ones in the township do not take coins. Upon noticing that the suspect was not driving to the public phones as expected, she enquired as to where he was driving. He then stopped in an open field near a scrap yard, between Boshokong Township and Bethlehem.
The suspect then allegedly pepper sprayed the victim and when the suspect got out of the car to urinate, the victim managed to escape. He then chased her and hit her with an object on the back of her head and she fell down. After assaulting her, he dragged the victim to the car where he raped her. The suspect allegedly threatened to kill the victim if she told anyone that he had raped her. He then took her to her boyfriend’s house where the boyfriend identified him as a police officer. The suspect was arrested by an ICD investigator on 16 February 2010. He is due to appear at the Bethlehem Magistrates Court on 18 February 2010. The ICD will oppose bail.
For enquiries contact:
Moses Dlamini
Cell: 082 809 1927
Issued by: Independent Complaints Directorate
17 February 2010
Source: Independent Complaints Directorate (http://www.icd.gov.za/)
