The 34-year-old accused who allegedly raped and assaulted a 60-year-old woman with a hammer has been apprehended.
The Welkom Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences unit (FCS) made a significant arrest on Wednesday, 6 August, when they cornered the male suspect in Bothaville.
The arrest stems from an incident that occurred on Saturday, 26 July, in which a 60-year-old woman was struck on the head with a hammer and raped at her home in Bothaville.
The victim suffered severe injuries to the head and had to be hospitalised. The investigation team collected evidence and followed up on all possible leads.
With considerable assistance from the neighbourhood watch and the community, the alleged suspect was identified and subsequently arrested on Wednesday.
The suspect is facing charges of attempted murder and rape.
The AfriForum Neighbourhood Watch in Bothaville achieved a huge success when they helped the SAPS with the arrest.
“The neighbourhood watch had already identified the suspect on 26 July with the help of video footage. He was identified by hie stolen, bloodied jacket. The suspect was then apprehended and taken to SAPS Bothaville for questioning. According to the police, however, it was circumstantial evidence, and they believed that there could be many people with the same jacket. The suspect was subsequently released,” says Alta Pretorius, AfriForum’s district coordinator for the Mooi River.
Pretorius says the jacket was then claimed by a woman as her own on 29 July.
“According to her, there could not be anyone else in Bothaville with this jacket, as she had imported the jacket from Europe and the jacket was allegedly stolen from her earlier.”
Pretorius says the neighbourhood watch members found another person near the house where the incident took place who testified that someone had walked past there shortly after the incident and that he was allegedly bloodied and asked for water to wash his arm. He was also positively identified by the person as the suspect.
The neighbourhood watch leader, Dolf Meyer, in response to a radio report asking for information about the case, contacted an investigating officer in Welkom who then began the investigation.
The investigating officer travelled to Bothaville on 6 August to apprehend the suspect with Meyer’s help. The suspect was arrested and charged at 14:22 in Kgotsong.
The victim is currently recovering at Mediclinic Welkom.
“I am convinced that every woman in Bothaville is very grateful to Meyer and the rest of the neighbourhood watch who supported him, who were not prepared to let this matter go. It is also good to hear that the victim is showing progress on her road to recovery. This makes the good work of the neighbourhood watch even more remarkable, and everyone hopes that justice will be done,” says Pretorius.
