Rape
incidents have hit hard on various villages and towns in the Eastern Cape.
Gogos aged between the ages of 70 and 95 years are also targets.
This has been revealed by the South African Police Service management in the Eastern Cape Province.
The cops said they were shocked and concerned about the increasing levels of rape incidents in the province.
The Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant General Liziwe Ntshinga said the situation needed urgent intervention.
She said she was also concerned about social intervention measures such as emotional and health conditions of those affected by these crimes.
Areas most affected included Lusikisiki, Mthatha, Ngqeleni, East London and Mbizana.
“Although other areas are not immune from this pandemic, they are however a cause for concern as young and old people are affected by this problem. Crime analysis and trends indicate that young children up to the age of 18, fall victim of rape either at home or in the taverns.
Saddening, is the fact that the culprits do not only end with young people, but are also targeting the elderly women,” said the cops.
According to the cops most of these crimes take place behind closed doors as well as during nighttime.
“This poses serious challenges for police investigations as some of the suspects manage to conceal their identities and disappear without trace. Such situations leave the victims severely traumatised and desperate for help,” said the cops.
The police management said it will be calling for an urgent engagement session among the stakeholders in the Justice Crime Prevention and Security Cluster to find a lasting mechanism in dealing with this.
Ntshinga said: “I wish to emphasise that parents have their parental duty to ensure that young children are not left to travel long distances alone from school without a caregiver. Equally, elderly women are not left to fend for themselves in isolation of their homes without any proper guardians.”
