A teenager who survived being brutally attacked and gang-raped last month has identified three of her attackers, but police are still looking for more suspects.
A teenager who survived being brutally attacked and gang-raped last month has identified three of her attackers, but police are still looking for more suspects.
Police spokesperson Captain Mali Govender confirmed that they arrested and charged three men aged 27, 28 and 29 with rape and attempted murder in connection with the incident on 22 March.
There are still a number of men at large for the 17-year-old’s attack, however, and Govender appeals to anyone in the community who has information that could help their investigation.
Speaking to Grocott’s Mail this week, Community Policing Forum Chairperson Glenda Duffy said the girl told them she had been raped by more than three people.
"She told us that she was raped by seven people, but she only knows the names of three," Duffy said.
After the incident Extension 9 residents have rallied around the girl and her family in support, protesting the men’s formal bail application and going to all of their court appearances.
On 22 March the girl survived an excruciating night in which her attackers raped, stabbed and wrapped her in a carpet before leaving her for dead at a house in Extension 9.
She was found at the back of the house the following day after people living in the house heard her moaning and went to investigate.
In the meantime the teenager, who was stabbed twice in the back of her neck, is still in Settlers’ Hospital.
She was due to be released two weeks ago but doctors have prolonged her stay to help rehabilitate her right arm and leg, which she could no longer use due to her injuries.
The men abandoned their bail application in the Grahamstown Magistrate’s Court last week Monday.
The case was postponed to 28 May for further investigation and all three men remain in custody.
