KESTELL – The 24-year-old man accused of rape and murder of a minor will await trial after he appeared in Kestell Magistrate court on 2 March 2022. The case has been remanded to 30 March 2022 for a High Court date.

The accused was traced at HaNchabeng Village in Qwaqwa, where he was finally arrested following a lengthy search by the police. The team, consisting of the Phuthaditjhaba Family, Child, Protection and Sexual Offences Unit and Crime Intelligence Unit successfully followed information which led to the arrest of the accused. The body of the minor was then recovered in a nearby field and taken to the government mortuary for a post mortem which resulted in rape and murder case being investigated.

The girl went missing on Saturday 18 September 2021. She was last seen with her friend of the same age. Her friend alleged that they met a certain known man in the area who gave them five rand and asked her to walk with him. She didn’t return home and the man couldn’t be traced as police and community looked all over for him, even in the vicinity of the graveyard and neighbouring farms where they thought they would find the suspect.

Source: South African Police Service