LANGA ON EDGE AFTER ABDUCTION

THE community of Langa is on edge after a 14-year-old meisie was allegedly abducted by three men, raped, and left near her school in Langa on Tuesday morning.

The incident has prompted urgent calls for parents to accompany their children to and from school.

The Langa Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Forum issued an alert to the community following the incident.

Anele Gqasana, GBV Programme Coordinator for Projects Manager Langa, said support would be given to the victim’s family.

A woman who found the girl after the attack said the child was visibly traumatised.

The helper said: “I met the girl who said, ‘Sisi, can you please help me?’ She told me she was raped by men and then dropped off near a school.”

Gqasana said they fear that the perpetrators could strike again and urged vigilance.

Gqasana adds: “The person who reported this to us was a parent who witnessed this.

“This was an alarming incident; we fear it could happen again. We don’t know who this man is but we hope the police will investigate and arrest him... there are CCTV cameras all around.”

Police spokesperson Captain FC van Wyk reports: “This case was transferred to Bishop Lavis Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) for further investigation.

“According to reports, the victim left home to go to school, when she stopped at a shop to buy chips, she was called by a taxi driver in a white Toyota Quantum taxi.

“The driver gave her money to buy cigarettes for him, which she did. When she came back, he told her to put it on the passenger seat as the driver’s window was not working.

“She went around when she tried to open the door. The two passengers opened the sliding door and pulled her in and they drove off with her.

“They drove with her to an unknown field where she was taken out of the taxi and raped by the driver only. She was then placed back in the taxi and the suspects drove back and dropped her off in Washington Street, Langa. Investigations continue, no arrest yet.”

Anyone with information about this incident is kindly requested to contact the investigation officer, Detective Sergeant Lee-Ann Carstens on 082 559 4598 or Crime Stop on 08600 10111.