Elderly woman raped at home

THE COMMUNITY of Warrenvale has called for stringent law enforcement intervention following the rape of an 87-year-old woman at her home in Ikhutseng on the weekend.

This follows after a 29-year-old man accused of raping the elderly woman appeared in the Mahareng Magistrate’s Court yesterday.

The man is accused of raping the woman during the early hours of Sunday morning.

According to police spokesperson, Sergeant Sipho Taliwe, the woman saw the accused as her child.

“The young man was renting a room situated in the same yard as the house of the woman. The woman was staying inside a five-roomed house. There were also other family members of the woman staying on the premises. The woman took the accused as her child and never saw him as a threat.

“The accused would usually go and check on the woman. He did not break into the house and managed to know how to gain entry into the house. The woman said she did not know that it was the accused who allegedly raped her as it was dark but she could recognise his voice,” said Taliwe.

Taliwe added that fingerprints taken at the scene matched those of the accused.

The matter was postponed to next week.

Meanwhile, the mayor of Mahareng Municipality, Bongile Mhaleni, said that the spate of violent incidents against women and children is a serious concern.

“It is disturbing to see such incidents unfolding in our community. The incident of an elderly woman being allegedly raped by a young man known to her is very worrisome. We are worried about where the morals of the community are when we attack the vulnerable parties in our society.

“There was also the body of a 15-year-old found. Women are vulnerable and we as men need to protect them,” said Mhaleni.

He added that drug abuse played a major role in these cases. “This problem (drug abuse) needs intervention from all stakeholders. We need to educate the youth on the dangers of drug abuse.

Mhaleni said his office is searching for ways to root out the problem.