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A Katlehong man has been arrested for raping a seven-year-old girl and slitting her throat with a broken mirror, Gauteng police said on Wednesday.

He broke into his ex-girlfriend's shack in a squatter camp in Palm Ridge, Eden Park, on November 20, Captain Pinky Tsinyane said in a statement.

She was not there, but he found her two children asleep and allegedly attacked the seven-year-old girl. She survived, but had to be operated on.

The man was arrested at his shack on Wednesday morning.

The girl's 28-year-old mother, who may not be named to protect the child's identity, has criticised the Eden Park police for taking so long to arrest him.

“He has been walking the streets since he did this,” she said. She had had to track him down herself so the police could finally arrest him.

She also said the police had yet to fetch the broken mirror from her house.

“There was evidence at the scene I think police could have used, but they never came and now I have moved from that place.”

The mother said the man had threatened to kill her if she reported the matter to the police.

“What if he had killed me and my children like he had promised to? This happened in November... it's now February. Why were they not arresting him?” she asked.

Both of her children were being cared for by social workers until she could find a safe place to live.

“The suspect was hopping from one place to another, running away from the police,” Tsinyane said.

The arrest took place following a report by Health-E News, published in The Star newspaper on Tuesday. He was expected to appear in the Alberton Magistrate's Court on Wednesday on charges of rape, attempted murder and house breaking. – Sapa