Kutlwano Olifant
WOMEN have been warned to be vigilant when using minibus taxis, especially at night.
The warning comes after a taxi driver was arrested for allegedly raping a teenage girl in his backyard room in Senaoane.
The girl was found by police officers patrolling the area early yesterday, according to Moroka police spokesman Mpanza Khoza.
They spotted her crying as she walked in the street.
The girl took the police to the house where the alleged rape took place. She was able to point out the suspect, and he was arrested.
Khoza said the girl’s ordeal began when the taxi stopped next to her while she was on her way to buy some cakes.
The driver invited her into the taxi but she refused. When the man asked for her phone number, she told him her cellphone did not have a sim card.
The girl eventually boarded the taxi after he promised to take her straight to her destination.
She became fearful when the man refused to drop her off. Instead he went to see his boss, where he met another taxi driver.
After a few minutes, he drove off with the girl to his home. Once there, he started fondling and kissing her before raping her.
The suspect was expected to appear in the Protea Magistrate’s Court today.
Khoza pointed out that four similar cases had been reported since November.
In one incident, a passenger had been raped near the Chiawelo flats by a taxi driver after he failed to stop at a bus stop where she wanted to climb off. The woman had taken a taxi from the Bara taxi rank.
In another incident, a taxi driver threatened a passenger with a knife before driving with her to the Nancefield hostel, where he raped her.