Nine youths, including five minors, appeared in the Heilbron Magistrate’s Court in connection with the gang rape of a 24-year-old woman, Free State police said.
Constable Peter Kareli said the case was postponed until next Friday, when four of them were expected to apply for bail.
The five minors had been released into the custody of their guardians while preliminary investigations were done. They would appear on Friday, and again next Friday with the others.
The youths, aged between 15 and 19, were arrested after an attack on a couple returning from a family gathering in Phiritona, Heilbron, on Sunday.
A group of boys assaulted them, demanding money and cellphones. The woman’s husband escaped and ran for help. The police were contacted and a search for the woman was begun.
Kareli said the woman was later found near an open field. She said she had been taken to a quarry and repeatedly raped by the youths.
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