Johannesburg - Free State police have arrested a 56-year-old taxi driver from Qwaqwa over allegations that he sexually harassed his teenage passenger.
The man was arrested after his alleged victim gave police his minibus taxi’s registration number and they tracked him down.
Police spokesperson Brigadier Motantsi Makhele said information at their disposal was that the 18-year-old from Mabolela Village in Qwaqwa boarded the taxi on February 20.
At the time, Makhele said, the teenager was travelling from Phuthaditjhaba and going home to Mabolela and was the only person in the taxi at the time.
“Along the way the driver started touching her unpleasantly. She asked him to stop but he ignored her.
“She fortunately managed to write down his registration plates and reported the incident to the police who immediately traced and arrested the suspect.”
The man was arrested on Tuesday morning at a taxi rank and charged with sexual assault.
The District Commissioner of Thabo Mofutsanyana, Major General Jan Tsotetsi thanked Brigadier Moses Mohloare and his team for swiftly arresting the suspect.
Last week the Ekurhuleni Metro Police asked residents to be vigilant when boarding taxis following complaints of commuters being robbed inside moving minibus taxis.
This was after they received complaints from people who boarded a white Toyota Quantum with five people inside were assaulted, threatened with a knife and gun the robbed before being abandoned far from home.
IOL