Johannesburg - A 22-year-old man has been arrested for severely assaulting two girls aged nine and 13, killing one and also raping the other.
The man was arrested in Sebokeng on Wednesday around 2am.
While the two girls lived in the same house, it's not known if they are siblings.
Brigadier Mathapelo Peters of the Gauteng police said officers responded to an alert of children screaming around 2am.
When they arrived at the house, they found the man.
“Inside the house, police also found the body of a nine-year old who was declared dead on the scene as well as a 13-year old girl with multiple injuries,” she added.
"The nine year old had been severely assaulted. The 13-year-old was also brutally assaulted and is in hospital. It was also medically proven that she had been raped."
An assortment of weapons believed that the man used to assault the girls were also found at the scene and confiscated.
Peters said initial investigations suggests that the children lived in the house in which they were assaulted.
"They were alone at the time of the assault and we are trying to establish where the parents were. It also seems as if the girls knew the man," Peters said.
Gauteng Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant General Elias Mawela condemned the incident and together with the police management, expressed condolences to the family of the girls.
They also wished the 13-year-old girl a speedy and smooth recovery.
“We can only hope that the swift arrest of the suspect will bring some kind of comfort to the family of the little girls,” Mawela said
Mawela added that police must leave no stone unturned in making sure that all bases are covered towards a watertight case leading up to a successful conviction by the Courts.