A 26-year-old man is in police custody after he was arrested for allegedly raping a toddler in Elukwatini, near Nelspruit.
Ndubane said later the grandmother overheard a passer-by saying a young girl was in the street bleeding, apparently after an attack.
Community sets out to find the alleged perpetrator
Community members who had allegedly seen the man walking the little girl towards where she was eventually found raised the alarm, said Ndubane, adding residents launched a manhunt.
They found the man nearby drinking and apprehended him.
He said they then called police who arrested the by-then injured man.
The man appeared in the Chief Albert Luthuli Magistrate’s Court later. He was charge for rape and his case postponed to February 12.
He was remanded in custody.
Acting Mpumalanga police commissioner Major General Zeph Mkhwanazi commended the public for aiding the investigators.
Police grateful for community help
“We are very much concerned about the incidents of rape whereby children were targeted. Adults should protect the little ones as children are the future of our country. We hope that justice will be served for the little child,” he said.
A not-so-bright criminal is cursing his luck after police walking past their flat observed drugs inside.
According to Western Cape police spokesperson Captain Frederick C. van Wyk, on Saturday, police responding to an unspecified complaint visited a unit at a Wynberg block of flats on Main Road.
The key was hanging outside an open door
As they were walking away after nobody answered the door when they knocked, they noticed a key hanging on the outside of an open door of an unrelated flat.
Van Wyk said police wanted to alert the occupant to the key hanging outside. But as they peered into the unit, they noticed what appeared suspiciously like drugs, scales and cash.
He said when police went in, they realised nobody was home so they confiscated the contraband.
Police took in 136 mandrax tablets, 1,8kg of crystal meth, 2kg packet of cocaine and an undisclosed amount of cash notes and coins.
