Elderly woman’s alleged rapist was on bail
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Pretoria - Less than a week after a suspected house robber was released on bail, he allegedly broke into the Groenkloof home of a 92-year-old woman, raped and robbed her.
The man was re-arrested on Tuesday, along with his alleged accomplice, as police had their fingerprints on their database.
Learning of their arrest, the elderly woman said she had no hatred in her heart. “I actually feel sorry for them because now they will have to spend some time in jail,” she told her family, who are in awe of her mental strength after her ordeal.
The two men allegedly broke into the woman’s home last Thursday at about 10.30pm. They broke down the locked doors and gained access to her locked bedroom through the ceiling.
“They woke her up and asked for money. They ransacked the entire house and one of them raped her. At some stage she was hit with a carpenter file on her head.
“When they were done they ate and drank from the fridge. At dawn they fled, she was falling in out out of consciousness,” the woman’s son said.
Hours later she had managed to crawl to a phone and call for help.
The man who allegedly raped the woman was arrested this month after police found him in possession of suspected stolen goods and house-breaking equipment.
“He was taken to court and released on bail two weeks later,” police spokeswoman Sergeant Asnath Malatsi said. The suspect was re-arrested on Tuesday at Magnolia Dell on Walker street.
He led police to his alleged accomplice, who was arrested in Soshanguve.
Malatsi said they appeared in court on Thursday on a charge of rape and robbery and were due back in court at the end of the month.
Meanwhile, the family of the victim are keeping a close eye on her.
“What’s keeping me and my siblings going is how my mom is handling this. She is mentally strong. But she can be acting this way as a sense of relief that she survived something so traumatic. The depression and physiological implications will come later,” her son said.
Pretoria News