Cape Town - A Zimbabwean man has been arrested after he allegedly sexually assaulted a six-year-old boy and confessed to the crime.
Angry residents in Dunoon, where he lived in a small wooden shack, demolished his home on Monday after reports of the assault emerged.
Chris Mapu, a resident, who said he ran to protect the man from the threat of vigilante justice, explained that he had tried to calm his neighbours down. “They were very angry,” he said.
He had seen it before, he said, how a group of normally calm residents could be driven to violence by the sight of an alleged thief or rapist.
“They’ve done damage in the past, a lot of damage,” he added.
But he said that by preempting the threat on the man’s life and phoning the police to come and arrest him, he and a group of others had saved his life.
“We managed to protect him,” he said. “I’m happy about this... Now the law can take its course.”
Another resident said police had arrived on Monday and addressed the community, assuring them the alleged child molester would be placed behind bars, before arresting him.
Residents say they do not want the man to return to the area.
According to authorities, he will appear in court on Wednesday.
Cape Argus