VUWANI – The Vuwani SAPS have opened a murder docket, following the death of a 27-year-old suspect, whom they have been looking for pending a case of indecent assault, rape and armed robbery.

It is alleged that the deceased, together with his four accomplishes, confronted two women aged 31 and 33 at the Zwikwengani T-junction in October 2004 and raped them, before robbing them of their cellphones and disappearing into the nearby bushes. While the deceased was still on the run, his co-accused, aged between 17 and 19 years, were already at the police holding cells.

It was alleged that the police received a tip from the community about the whereabouts of the deceased. “Our investigations led us to a three-roomed house at Tshifulanani Village and, on our arrival, we found the deceased. When we confronted him, he ran away through an open door. As we gave chase, we fired four warning shots into the air and into the ground, but he kept on running,” said Capt Mashudu Malelo.

When the deceased was about jump over the security fence, the police fired three shots and he was shot in the legs and in the waist. He died on his way to the hospital. Investigations continue.

In a separate incident, the Mphephu SAPS have arrested an alleged 70-year-old rape suspect at Mauluma Village. According to Capt Malelo, on October 15, 2003, the victim (who was 12 then) and her friends went to the suspect’s sugar cane field to work for sugar cane. It is alleged that the suspect called the victim to his rondavel’s kitchen. She went and left her friends working in the field.

“We heard that the suspect fondled and later raped her, threatening her with death if she tried to alert her friends by screaming. After the ordeal, the victim was given a bundle of sugar canes, but was further reminded not to reveal what had happened. He repeated that he would kill her,” Malelo said.

Asked how the police knew about the ordeal, Malelo said that the victim broke the silence after she had attended a child protection week campaign on May 28, 2005, at Ha-Raliphaswa village. The suspect will appear in court soon.