A hitch-hiker who was travelling home and got raped by the driver and his friends has again caused cops to appeal to people not to hitch-hike.
“Once again police urge community members to utilise public transport,” Mpumalanga provincial police spokesman Brigadier Leonard Hlathi said.
“This will assist in reducing or preventing the number of such incidents,” the cop said.
A case of rape has been opened with the Siyabuswa cops after a 33-year-old woman travelling late on Saturday evening from Limpopo’s Marble Hall to Mpumalanga’s Siyabuswa was raped by three men at gun-point.
Hlathi said the men, who were travelling with a woman inside their car, offered the Mpumalanga woman a lift but then decided to stop and rape her when the car was about to reach home.
He said it happened on 17 September 2016 and was appealing this week not again.
“When they were about to reach Maganagoboswa in Siyabuswa, the driver of the vehicle stopped near the bushes and one of the suspects took out a firearm and gave it to the woman who they were travelling with to stand guard while all three men took turns, raping the victim.
“Police are very concerned of the number of incidents which occur as a result of hitch-hiking. We attended to a number of complains around the province where people were offered lifts and along the way some were raped, especially women and others were drugged and robbed of their belongings,” Hlathi said.
The cops have not made an arrest yet and are currently appealing to anyone with information to contact them on 013 973 1301.
(edited by ZK)
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