Cape Town - George police are calling people to be on the lookout for a black car with the word “diva” printed on the rear window after the kidnapping and suspected rape of a teenager who was abducted in broad daylight in the town’s business centre.
The 19-year-old was leaving a shop in Hibernia Street - a busy street of clothing and furniture shops - on May 21 when she lost consciousness. She woke up in a bungalow, tied up and held captive by a man in a grey suit and a neatly dressed woman.
Police Captain Bernadine Steyn said the teenager had been held in the bungalow for four days. The man allegedly raped her.
The woman later drove the teenager to a spot on the N2 between Sedgefield and George and she left her there. The teenager cannot identify her captors and does not know where she was held.
Steyn said one of a few leads police had was a window sticker on the car used by the suspects. “They used a black vehicle with the word “diva” printed on the rear window.”
The police have appealed for information and asked the public to look out for the car.
Steyn did not speculate how the teenager lost consciousness. However, Masimanyane Women’s Support Centre founder Dr Lesley Ann Foster said she had come across cases in which victims had been drugged.
“They wouldn’t even know they had been drugged. Brazen criminals bump into their victim and, inject the drug without them realising it. The effects are almost immediate,” Foster said.
The fact that the abduction happened in daylight in a busy area meant the perpetrators were most likely not first-time offenders, she said.
“Usually they wouldn’t start with such a brazen crime. By releasing her days after being raped also shows that they are intelligent and planned the crime carefully.
“They knew exactly what they were doing because the lifespan of sperm, which could connect them to the crime, is only 72 hours.”
* Anyone who has information should contact Constable Ann Janse on 044 803 4618.
Garden Route Media