A 59-year-old woman from Tshitutuni Village in the Siloam area was allegedly detained for 10 hours by a friend of her boyfriend, before he went on to rape her several times, police have said.

The police spokesperson for Siloam SAPS, Insp Mboneni Mudimela, said the incident occurred between 18:00 on Saturday and 04:00 on Sunday morning at Tshitutuni Village last week.

"On the fateful day, the victim went to her boyfriend´s homestead and found him not at home. She then proceeded to her boyfriend´s friend’s home where she enquired about her boyfriend´s whereabouts. The man then lied to her and told the woman that her boyfriend was in one of the rooms. He then led her to one of the rooms where the woman’s boyfriend was purported to be.

"While inside the room, the suspect then locked the door and raped the victim several times after detaining her the whole night. The victim managed to escape at around 04:00, however, while the suspect was asleep and proceeded to the police station where she reported the matter to us, leading the arrest of the suspect," said Insp Mudimeli.

The suspect is expected to appear in court soon, facing rape charges. The incident comes shortly after another Siloam woman was raped by three knife-wielding suspects before they robbed her of her cell phone.

Two unaccompanied girls from Phazimazuwa village in Siloam area were also recently raped while going to church, allegedly by an unknown suspect, police have said.

Mudimeli expressed concern over an upsurge in the number of rape cases around Siloam and urged community members to complement the police in the fight against the increasing trend.