Limpopo - A man was arrested after a 78-year-old Limpopo pensioner reported that she had allegedly been raped.
After identifying a suspect 26 years younger than the complainant, the police pounced.
But hours later, police released the 52-year-old man from custody and dropped the rape case.
Police have now charged the septuagenarian from Nkowankowa township outside Tzaneen with perjury.
Limpopo police spokesman Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said she had lied about the rape.
Police investigations seemed to indicate that the pensioner had fabricated the rape allegation after the man spurned her advances.
He said the medical doctor who examined her at Tzaneen Hospital confirmed that she had not been raped.
“She reported the case on Sunday morning, saying that the man had broken into her house on Saturday night and raped her,” said Mulaudzi.
He said police had substantial evidence that confirmed she had not been raped.
Mulaudzi said the case would be handed over to the director of public prosecutions.
The Star