Officer on charge of raping woman

A 51-YEAR-OLD Limpopo policeman has been arrested on a rape charge.

The officer allegedly raped a 22-year-old woman in custody.

The woman had been detained for child negligence after her father had handed her over to the police on Thursday.

The warrant officer was arrested on Monday and was due to appear in the Seshego Magistrate’s Court today.

The arrest was confirmed by Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) spokeswoman Grace Langa.

The warrant officer allegedly told the woman he wanted to offer her “something nice” before she was released on Monday morning.

“It is alleged that on Sunday night at around 8pm, the suspect freed the victim from her cell and took her to an office where the suspect was working and raped the victim on a table, after which he took her back to the cell,” she said.

The officer, who was on duty at the time, had his firearm with him. According to Langa, the woman said she was afraid to scream for help.

“After the victim was released by the court on Monday after her appearance, she immediately called 10111 and requested to speak with a woman police officer, who then assisted her to open a case of rape against the warrant officer,” said Langa.

She said Ipid arranged counselling for her and she had undergone a medical check-up.

Last month, a 33-year-old constable based at Macassar police station in the Western Cape was sentenced to 18 years’ imprisonment for raping a 23-year-old woman.

The woman had been in custody for housebreaking and theft cases.

Also last month, a 32-year-old police constable, stationed at Moroka police station in Soweto, was arrested on allegations of statutory rape.

The mother of a 14-year-old Soweto girl opened a case after the girl had disappeared over a weekend.

Suspect ‘freed her from cell and then took her to office’