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The house in Kleynhans Street where the girl alleged she was held hostage
and raped. The police found a number of inconsistencies in the story and
it also does not tie in with what other witnesses described.

Doubts about the truth in girl’s story of abduction and rape

 

An incident where a 15-year-old girl was allegedly held hostage in a house in Louis Trichardt and raped caused widespread reaction during December and some residents even feared for their own safety while the “rapist” was still at large.

In the last edition of 2016 of the Zoutpansberger/Limpopo Mirror it was reported that the Makhado Police had launched a manhunt for a man who had allegedly kidnapped the girl and then raped her over a period of four days. The story threw the community in disarray, with people fearing that there is a sadistic monster that could harm their children.

However, a strong possibility exists that the girl’s whole ordeal might have been a fabricated story. The police have confirmed that their investigations have revealed several major inconsistencies in the girl’s first testimony regarding what had happened the day she was allegedly abducted.

The initial report stated that the girl was discovered on 19 December last year while trying to escape the house where she was being held captive in Kleynhans Street.

(This street has always been a preferred route to school for many children attending the nearby Louis Trichardt Primary School – resulting in escalating levels of panic in the community).

The first contradiction the police found in the girl’s story was that she is not a minor but is in fact 19 years old. While investigating her statement, the police also discovered witnesses who had seen the girl in the company of a man on the day of her alleged abduction. This and other information the police gathered raised doubts as to whether they were dealing with a legitimate case of rape.

When resecued the girl told onlookers that her captor had forced her to drink something that had made her sleepy and weak when she woke up. On the fourth day she allegedly did not receive the suspected drug and then managed to escape from the house. When she escaped from the house, she told passersby that she had been walking along the street when an unknown man had called her over. When she tried to walk away, she was grabbed, dragged towards the unoccupied house and had a rag stuffed in her mouth when she called out for help.

When she regained consciousness, she was tied up, with the rag still in her mouth and her clothes gone.

One of the people who assisted her when she “escaped” recalled – in an interview with the newspaper – that the girl had still been tied up, completely naked and bleeding profusely at that time. 

Despite the contradictions in her story, the police are still viewing the incident in a serious light and will continue with their investigations.

If the police can find prove that the girl had not been raped but had been involved in a consensual sexual act, it could lead to a miss trial in court.“If the girl made false claims, not only would she have wasted valuable police and State resources, but also caused unnecessary panic in the community,” said the police.    

Apart from all this, reporting fake incidents of rape not only places a burden on already-stretched-thin police resources, but also causes a delay in the investigation of actual rape cases. “The public must realize that if you lie about one aspect of your case, the chances are good that your case will never hold up in court,” the police further warned.

On Tuesday the police confirmed that they are still searching for the man in whose company the girl was seen when she claimed she was kidnapped.

 

Date:16 January 2017

By: Isabel Venter

Isabel joined the Zoutpansberger and Limpopo Mirror in 2009 as a reporter. She holds a BA Degree in Communication Sciences from the University of South Africa. Her beat is mainly crime and court reporting.

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