People are being warned to avoid secluded spots in and around Muizenberg at night after a spate of rapes in areas popular with courting couples.
Police say couples smooch-ing on the back seats of cars in quiet areas and roads in and around Muizenberg have become targets for prowling rapists and that at least five rapes are recorded every month at the police station.
Muizenberg police spokes-man Inspector Cliffie Wyeth said many recent rapes had not been reported because the victims were embarrassed.
He warned lovers to avoid spots such as the Lover's Lane in Strandfontein, Strandfontein Pavilion, all the areas of Zeekoevlei and along Baden Powell Drive from Muizenberg to Strandfontein.
Continues Below ↓
Wyeth said that at 4am on December 20 a couple sitting in their car at Zeekoevlei had been confronted by four men and threatened with a firearm.
"They were made to sit in the back of the car watched closely by two of the men.
"The men then drove to Lover's Lane in Strandfontein, where three of them raped the woman, while the fourth held the boyfriend at knife-point."
They were then robbed of their cellphones and wristwatches.
The robbers then demanded the pin numbers of their bank cards, and drove to an ATM in Muizenberg where they withdrew R1 000 from each account before leaving the couple in their car and running away on foot.
Police called counsellors out to the Muizenberg police trauma room where the woman was comforted.
They arrested two men, and handed the case docket over to the provincial police's serious violent crimes unit.
"People must avoid parking in isolated places this festive season," Wyeth said.
Wyeth also told of a recent incident in which three men stopped in Strandfontein Road and offered a hitch-hiker a lift.
The hiker, a domestic worker, got into the car and drove off with the men.
She was offered a glass of beer, and the next thing she knew she was walking near the traffic intersection on the corner of Strandfontein and Spine roads, on her way to her workplace in nearby Pelican Heights.
The woman later discovered, with help from her employer and the police, that she had been raped and held at a house on the Cape Flats for more than a week.
On Saturday last week Muizenberg police released a man accused of rape after his wife withdrew the charge against him.
In spite of a court interdict against him, the man raped his wife in Sea Winds.
Muizenberg police have also warned motorists to be watchful when approaching the corner of Prince George Drive and Military Road where several smash-and-grab incidents have occurred over recent weeks.
Wyeth said criminals targeted woman drivers who left their valuables on their back seats.
Motorists travelling in the direction of Muizenberg "are mainly targeted as they pull away from the traffic lights".
"Valuables such as gold chains are being ripped from women's necks after criminals smash car windows with sharp objects," Wyeth said.
He nevertheless felt Muizenberg police were "on a winning streak, as we have recorded a general decline in crime from June to December".
- This article was originally published on page 5 of Cape Argus on December 30, 2003
|
StumbleUpon
Reddit
Digg
Delicious
Newsvine
Facebook
muti
Twitter
