Man arrested for allegedly abducting colleague’s daughter, raping and killing her

Johannesburg – A 26-year-old man has been arrested for the rape and murder of her colleague’s four-year-old daughter.

The abduction, murder and rape of the child occurred at Kgomotso village near Taung in North West.

The man was with the woman and her daughter in the same house when he allegedly waited for the woman to fall asleep then went for her child.

The child’s naked body was found in the bushes the following day, about five kilometres from the house. She had been raped and strangled to death.

According to Colonel Amanda Funani of the North West Police, the child’s 32-year-old mother had taken her daughter to her friend’s place on Saturday.

There, she left her in the company of six other children aged between 9 and 13 years then went to a local tavern.

She returned to the house in the early hours of Saturday accompanied by the suspect, whom she works with, and the friend whose house she had left her daughter at.

All the children were asleep when the three adults returned and the woman slept in her friend’s room, but when she woke up, her daughter was missing.

“She went back to her own house to look for the girl but did not find her. ”A missing person enquiry was ultimately reported.

“Subsequent to the search conducted in the area, the girl’s clothes and naked body were found in the bushes.

“Preliminary investigation revealed that the young girl was allegedly raped and strangled to death,” Funani said.

It is believed that shortly after they returned, the suspect waited for the mother to fall asleep. He allegedly went into the room where the children were asleep, picked up his colleague’s daughter, carried her while she was still asleep to the bushes where he raped and strangled her.

The man was arrested at his house in Jan Kempdorp, Northern Cape, on Sunday and was expected to appear at the Kgomotso Magistrates’ Court on Monday.

Funani said they were investigating the possibility of charging the mother with negligence.

The Acting Provincial Commissioner of North West, Major General Dintletse Molefe, applauded the Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati District Detectives for “the sterling job after the gruesome incident was reported”.

Molefe also said the brutal killings such as this one cannot be tolerated and that the police will continue to work hard to ensure that the suspect was convicted.

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