By Cecil Motsepe
Sowetan
September 2, 2009
http://www.sowetan.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=1058947
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Girls, aged 10 and 13, ‘abused’
AN ARCHBISHOP has been arrested for allegedly raping a 10-year-old close relative and her 13-year-old friend.
Sowetan can reveal that the 61-year- old priest, who had been on the run after the alleged sexual assaults on Sunday afternoon, turned himself in to the police yesterday.
As the angry community and police intensified their search for him, the archbishop’s wife, whose name was withheld to protect the identities of the children, had to abandon their house fearing for her life.
Speaking to Sowetan from a secret hide-out, the archbishop’s wife confirmed she had opened a case of rape against the man of the cloth.
The priest is understood to have lured his alleged victims into his shack while his wife was out buying groceries.
The wife said: “I was only away for a few minutes shopping. When I came back I noticed that something was wrong with one of the girls. After a lengthy talk she broke down and told me that my husband had raped her.”
Before his arrest the priest, who has been divorced nine times, managed to throw off his pursuers by asking them to meet him in Modimolle (formerly Nylstroom) only to switch his cellphone off.
But Captain Dudu Poto of the Mamehlake police confirmed yesterday that the priest had turned himself in to the Themba, Hammanskraal, police just after lunch on Monday.
On Monday Poto had said: “The suspect is at large. We want him to hand himself over because if the community gets to him before we do they might hurt him. Members of the community are alleging that there may have been similar incidents which were resolved among family members. We are investigating all these possibilities.”
The rape allegations gained more credence with the suspected rapist’s younger sister saying: “We once sat him down as a family and told him to stop or else we would report him to the police.”
The sister, however, refused to clarify which incident she was referring to when Sowetan pressed her for clarity.
Sowetan also visited Mamehlake Hospital and found one of the alleged victims writhing with pain on a wheelchair.
“My daughter can’t relieve herself. She can’t walk or sit properly,” said her distraught mother.
Contact: motsepec@sowetan.co.za
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