GEORGE NEWS - The DNA results of a 2018 rape victim from Thembalethu led the George Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit (FCS) to the door of an alleged serial rapist.
The suspect (26), who appeared in the Thembalethu Regional Court on Monday 12 August, was arrested on 27 June 2018 at a house in Thembalethu after he was positively linked to two rape incidents in Zone 2 that took place earlier that same month. He made his first court appearance the following day.
According to Southern Cape police spokesperson, Captain Malcolm Pojie, the suspect approached a young woman, then 17, who was walking alone in Zone 2 on the night of 11 June 2018. He dragged her into a half-built house near a high school in Thembalethu where he raped her.
"Approximately two weeks later, on 24 June 2018, another girl who was also 17 years old at the time of the incident, was raped in the same area. She however recognised the suspect and through DNA tests he was linked to both the rape incidents in the area as well as at least four previous incidents," said Pojie.
Two of these incidents took place in Thembalethu in 2013 and 2014 respectively. The two other incidents took place in the Kwanonqaba area in Mossel Bay, one of them in 2014.
Details surrounding the second incident could not be confirmed at the time of going to print.
The suspect appeared in the Thembalethu Regional Court on Monday where he was scheduled to enter a plea agreement. However, during court proceedings he changed his mind. He remains in custody and will be back in court on 26 August.
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