Police have arrested a 53-year-old man who allegedly trafficked a 15-year-old girl from Mozambique to South Africa and kept her as a sex slave.
It is alleged that the man brought the teenager to South Africa after telling her parents he had a job for her at his tuckshop in Alexandra in Gauteng.
“The victim and her family were reportedly told that the suspect’s wife was partially blind and she needed help to run the business,” provincial police spokesperson, Colonel Philani Nkwalase said.
“The suspect took the young lady from her parents in Mozambique promising that he will send them money every month.”
When they arrived in Gauteng, the girl found out that there was no spaza shop and the man threatened her.
Nkwalase said the suspect allegedly raped the girl between January and March 2023.
“The girl was sent to buy food and shared her multiple rape ordeal with a woman who worked as a cashier at a local supermarket,” he said.
The suspect was arrested and charged for contravening the Trafficking in Persons Act 7 of 2013. He has since appeared in the Alexandra Magistrate’s Court.
“The case docket was referred to the Hawks for further investigation after it had been reported to the local police and the teenager was taken to a place of safety. The case against the suspect was postponed to May 29 for formal bail information.”
IOL