By Mr Lee
jonk@alexreporter.co.za
A 31-year-old mother of three children was raped by her immediate neighbor in the early hours of this morning in Ruth, Alex.
The woman, known to Alex Reporter, identified the rapist as Sipho Khumalo, a neighbor, she grew up with and regards him as a brother.
Khumalo, the woman and other friends were drinking beers until this morning.
At about 4 o’clock in the morning, the alleged rapist requested to be accompanied by the woman to go buy cigarettes in the nearby garage.
The pair used a shortcut close to Minerva High School and Emfundisweni Primary School.
When they approached a veld next to the schools, the Khumalo allegedly took advantage of it, threatened and beat her before raping her twice.
“He didn’t wear condoms when he raped me.
“He is the man I know personally, and I trusted him so much that I took the risk of accompanying him,” she said.
The bruised woman, says two men who were going to work found the man still on top of her.
“They snatched him up and hit him before he flew away,” the woman said.
“I don’t believe what happened, and I’m still traumatized. It will take a long time for me to forget and heal from this.”
After reporting the matter to Alex’s police station, the woman’s family went to the suspect’s home in Alex, but never found him.
(Alex Reporter has since seen the case number)
“His family revealed to us that he had molested his sibling and that there was an unfinished case concerning that.
“They also told us that they were tired of him and warned him on more than one occasion,” she said.
The woman, who stays with her boyfriend, warns his friends who could have housed him to know that their friend is a wanted rapist.
The 45-year-old aunt says her niece suffered bruises to the face when the rapist hit her.
“She tried to battle him, but he defeated her.
“We are enraged and we want to teach him a lesson.
“There appear to be more unresolved cases… this is not his first offense. He was previously charged,”she fumes.
Alex Police spokesperson, Sergeant Simphiwe Mbatha, said the picture will help in identifying the rape suspect.
Khumalo, is not the first guilty person to fly away after raping someone they knew.
In 2019, a well-known ANC activist, a resident at Shomang Village next to Vezinyawo in Alex, reportedly raped a disabled woman and ran away after she reporting him.
The staunch supporter of the ruling party never returned to Alex when he learned the community was baying for his blood.
