KZN rape suspect who allegedly lured victims with job offer on Facebook arrested

16 May 2020 - 15:30 By TimesLIVE
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A 29-year-old man was arrested in Inanda north of Durban on Saturday morning in connection with five rape cases. File Photo.
A 29-year-old man was arrested in Inanda north of Durban on Saturday morning in connection with five rape cases. File Photo.
Image: SUHAIB SALEM

A 29-year-old suspect was arrested by the Inanda Family Violence Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit (FCS) in the early hours of Saturday in connection with five rape cases in which the assailant lured his victims through a job offer on Facebook.

The arrest, in the Ngoqokazi area, north of Durban, was the result of “meticulous investigating skills coupled with a lot of hard work and around-the-clock suspect-tracing efforts”, police said.

“Five cases of rape with the similar modus operandi had been reported at the Inanda police station from June 2019 to April 2020. The victims alleged that they had met an individual on Facebook who had promised them a job at a tuck shop.

“Once the desperate female shows interest in the vacancy the suspect would then direct them to take a taxi from where they are to Durban and from Durban to Inanda.”

Detectives endured long hours and sleepless nights trying to locate where their target stayed in Inanda, police said.

“Finally their hard work paid off. On Saturday morning at about 00:50 the suspect was finally cornered in a house at Ngoqokazi hiding inside a drum. He was arrested, charged with five counts of rape and will appear at the Ntuzuma magistrate's court on Monday,” police said.

They added that investigations were still ongoing and there was a possibility that the suspect could be linked to more rape cases.

“Women who were violated under the same modus operandi and who are yet to report to the police are urged to come forward and do so.”


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