Shocked and angry at a recent rape and attempted murder in Fingo Village, residents have handed a petition to the police, urging that two young men arrested after the incident be denied bail.
Shocked and angry at a recent rape and attempted murder in Fingo Village, residents have handed a petition to the police, urging that two young men arrested after the incident be denied bail.
The men were arrested last week and a woman in her mid-20s is reported to be in a serious condition in a Port Elizabeth hospital.
They were arrested a day after the 20 January attack and are appearing for a formal bail application today.
Local ANC chief whip and Ward 10 councillor Vuyani Kolisi handed over a petition to the investigating officer on behalf of Fingo Village residents last Tuesday, opposing today's bail application.
The petition from Ward 7 and 10 residents urges the magistrate to deny the two men bail. "They are a threat to the community at large. We as the community demand that the suspects should not be released from police custody," the document read.
Their reasons include the brutality of the act for which the men have been charged and the fact that the community feels threatened by their continued presence among them.
Police spokesperson Captain Mali Govender confirmed that the police have arrested two men aged 19 and 21. She said the incident happened on 19 January and the two men were arrested the following day.
After the incident the woman was taken to Settlers' Hospital and was later transferred to a Port Elizabeth hospital.
Govender said the woman was still in hospital, but her condition was not yet known.
"Our Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit is liaising with the hospital about her condition," she said, adding that some of their best detectives were investigating the case.
The men appeared twice last week, before the case was postponed to today for a formal bail application.
