/ 24 December 2007

Germiston man arrested after rape of toddler

A three-year-old Germiston toddler will spend Christmas recovering after being raped by a friend of the family, police said on Monday.

Germiston police spokesperson Captain Steady Nawa said the child’s mother was preparing a meal on Sunday when she noticed that her daughter was missing.

The woman then visited a 34-year-old friend who was fond of playing with her daughter, but the man refused to open the door of his shack. The man said he had left the child at a shebeen.

The girl’s mother pretended to leave, but waited between the shack and a car. Her daughter emerged from the shack a few minutes later.

Bloodstains were found on the child’s dress and the man was arrested on Sunday evening.

Meanwhile, a 40-year-old Germiston man was arrested on Sunday after raping and

robbing a 63-year-old woman in her home at the Good Hope squatter camp.

Nawa said the woman sold alcohol from her home and the man and his girlfriend had been the last to leave on Saturday night. Nawa said the man had also stolen the key to the 63-year-old’s shack.

He returned later, let himself in to her room, removed the women’s underwear, and raped her.

The women said she had managed to bite him and the man fled, apparently taking R600.

He was arrested later that night and is expected to appear in court soon. – Sapa