A SENIOR Northern Province detective appeared briefly in court on Wednesday for allegedly raping three young girls and indecently assaulting four others. Senior Superintendent Shimanyana Frans Lebese, 49, of Lebowakgomo near Pietersburg, was not asked to plead in the Zebediela Periodical Court and will remain in custody until December 15 for further psychiatric observation. On September 3 Lebese, head of detectives in the province’s central area, allegedly raped a 14-year-old girl while she was walking home from school. On October 23, Lebese picked up five schoolgirls aged between 12 and 14 who were hitch-hiking near Matibela village. He allegedly raped two of them, and indecently assaulted the other three.