Publications
Partners
Bloemfontein - A suspected serial rapist withdrew his bail application in the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court on Monday.
The man had been expected to apply for bail, but was advised that the application had little chance of succeeding, police spokesperson Sergeant Thabo Litabe said.
He was arrested in Thaba Nchu last Friday after DNA samples were used to link him to a rape dating back to August 2012. That matter was however withdrawn and the alleged assailant released after the 22-year-old victim failed to attend court proceedings.
She was attacked and knocked unconscious near a railway line in Bloemfontein, raped and robbed of her cellphone.
Her attacker, in his mid-30s, was arrested shortly afterwards when the woman flagged down a passing police patrol.
The suspect’s blood was drawn and sent for sampling at the police’s forensic science laboratory. He was positively linked to the crime using DNA.
The woman failed to testify during the man’s trial, so case was withdrawn and he was released.
Recently, the forensic science laboratory in Pretoria informed Bloemfontein police that their DNA test results linked the suspect to other cases reported in Bloemspruit, Thaba Nchu, and Selosesha.
Some of the cases had already been closed as nobody could be linked to them.
In almost all the crimes, the attacker used the same modus operandi. The victims were between 13 and 22.
"After the rapes, he told the victims to close their eyes and walked away. They were allowed to open their eyes again after he whistled,” Litabe said.
The cases were reopened and a new search for the culprit initiated.
“He was traced to Thaba Nchu and six charges of rape were brought against him, but there could have been more rapes.”
