An autistic woman from Athlone has been left traumatised after she was robbed and raped in Nantes Park by a man pretending to be disabled.
Following the shocking incident, activists and Manenberg police tracked down the man to his Heideveld home on Monday and arrested him.
In a shocking twist, it was revealed that a disabled ou had allowed the man to use his wheelchair and pretend to be gestremd to prey on his unsuspecting victims.
Speaking to the Daily Voice after identifying her attacker, the 28-year-old woman from Bridgetown says she relived the trauma after seeing his face.
She says on October 2, she was walking home through the Nantes Park after attending a rehearsal for a theatre show in which she is performing.
The vrou had also just been paid and noticed the suspect in a wheelchair.
“I walked past, not thinking anything and then he just jumped up and asked me if I value my life over my phone,” the woman said.
She says the knife-wielding suspect held her down near a tree and proceeded to rob her of her Nike jacket and R500 in cash, but she refused to give up her cellphone.
The woman says she was then dragged to a nearby dam where she was raped.
Caroline Peters of the Callas Foundation says the young woman managed to run home. She was rushed to the foundation’s head office and taken for a medical examination.
“We took her to Thuthuzela Centre where Nyanga FCS took her statement and opened the case,” added Peters.
“Word got around and a man who does community work in Bridgetown as well as workers at the Nantes sourced information on the identity of the men. This is when we heard they are from Heideveld.”
On Monday morning, the group got a tip-off that the suspect was at his ouma’s house in Heideveld.
Manenberg SAPS swooped on the address and arrested him.
Peters says while at the police station, the suspect piemped his disabled friend and cops took him in as well.
Police spokesperson Wesley Twigg has confirmed the arrest of the main suspect, adding: “A 28-year-old male was arrested on a charge of rape and will appear in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court once he has been charged.”
Peters says activists will gather at Wynberg Magistrate’s Court tomorrow to demand justice for the victim.
“We are providing her with psycho-social support through our Access to Justice Programme.
“When I heard about this, I was outraged because they used a wheelchair.
“If you come across someone in a wheelchair, you will think nothing about it because the person would be vulnerable and can’t do anything,” she added.
“This young woman walked past the wheelchair confidently because it’s mos a gebreklike mens and just as she passed, he got out and attacked her.
“We are going to court on Wednesday and will fight his release on bail.”
dailyvoice@inl.co.za