GIYANI – The police in the Mopani Area arrested a 54-year-old Mozambican man on Monday and filed a charge of rape against him. The incidents that led to the arrest of the man took place at the Homu 14 B village near Giyani, over the past six years.

According to the spokesperson of the police in the Mopani Area, Capt Moatshe Ngoepe, the arrest came after the police had received information that the suspect had allegedly been raping a 14-year-old girl from the time when she was eight years old.

On Monday afternoon, the members of the Crime Combating Unit proceeded to the suspect's home, where they arrested him. According to Ngoepe, the suspect allegedly told the police that he had sexual intercourse with the girl with a view to making her grow up quickly, so that she would soon come of age in as far as marriage is concerned.

The statement indicates that the man further told the police that he intended to marry the girl when she became of age. Capt Ngoepe revealed that the information was leaked to them through concerned residents. The suspect was still to appear in the Giyani magistrate court at the time of going to press.