Arrest after beachfront attack

A MAN has been arrested in connection with the abduction and attempted rape of a teenage schoolgirl who had gone for a walk on the beachfront to clear her head before an exam.

The arrest was made yesterday afternoon when police followed up on leads that a possible suspect could be found in the bushes under the Humerail bridge.

The 15-year-old Pearson High School pupil managed to fight off two attackers and escape, but was left highly traumatised and severely bruised and scratched following her ordeal.

The attack took place shortly before 8am last Wednesday when the girl, who had been dropped off at school by her father just after 7am, went for a walk on the Marine Drive beachfront prior to writing an exam.

She was sitting near the Beacon, between the Pipe car park and Admiralty Way turn-off, when two men abducted her and forced her into a bakkie.

She was driven to the nearby “braai area”, where the men attempted to rape her in the bushes.

Police spokeswoman Colonel Priscilla Naidu said yesterday that members of the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences unit in Port Elizabeth along with the Port Elizabeth K9 unit had played a pivotal role in the arrest of a 24-year- old man.

Naidu said: “The protection of our women and children from violence, abuse and exploitation places a duty on all to ensure that these vulnerable groups are safe from preying perpetrators and that the perpetrators are arrested [speedily].”

She said police had worked around the clock to arrest the perpetrators.

“We cannot divulge details because the probe is at very sensitive stage. The investigating officer followed up on information of possible suspects in the bushes under the bridge in Humerail.

“As soon as the K9 unit member entered the bushes, four people [ran out].

“All were apprehended. However, only one person was arrested and detained for attempted rape and abduction,” Naidu said.

The suspect should appear in the Port Elizabeth Magistrate’s Court tomorrow.