North West police have apprehended a 26-year-old man in connection to the alleged rape and murder of a four-year-old.

In a statement, North West spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Amanda Funani said the suspect’s apprehension on Thursday came after the child’s naked body and clothes were found in the bushes on Sunday at Kgomotso village near Taung.

“According to information at our disposal, the suspect was nabbed at his residential place in Jan Kempdorp, Northern Cape.

“It is alleged that the suspect is a colleague and one of the people who accompanied (the child’s) mother from the tavern to her friend’s house where she slept. The suspect allegedly waited for the mother to fall asleep, then kidnapped the child and took her to the nearby bushes where he raped and killed her,” Funani said.

The suspect is expected to appear in the Kgomotso Magistrates’ Court on Monday, 24 May 2021. Investigation into the matter, including the possibility of charging the mother, is underway.  

The Acting Provincial Commissioner of North West, Major General Dintletse Molefe, applauded the Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati District Detectives for the sterling job they did within five days after the gruesome incident was reported. She said further that the brutal killings such as this one cannot be tolerated and that the police will continue to work hard to ensure that the suspect is convicted.

The development comes after police in the province on Monday arrested a 47-year-old Klerksdorp man for kidnap and the murder of his two-year-old daughter.

The man from Alabama appeared in court after the lifeless body of the toddler was found inside the ceiling of his residential home after she had gone missing days earlier. – SAnews.gov.za