Image used for demonstration purposes. Photo from Gallo Images.
THE Germiston police in Ekurhuleni have received numerous complaints about rape incidents.
According to the police, they have established that in most of these rapes, the suspect approaches his victims via Facebook.
Police spokeswoman Neldah Sekgobela said they want to raise awareness about this type of crime that emanates from the internet.
“He approaches women on Facebook and sells items like clothes and shoes. He poses as a woman and pretends to be interested in buying the item that the seller (the victim) has posted.
"He then arranges for the seller to bring the item to 'her'. During this time, the conversation between the two began on Messenger, where he later requested a WhatsApp number from the seller. Then the communication moved to WhatsApp,” Sekgobela said.
“When the victim gets there and communicates with him, they think they're communicating with a woman. The rapist then tells the victim in a WhatsApp message that he will send someone to pick them up as he is at work,” she said.
Sekgobela said the suspect would ask the victim to send their current location and eventually the rapist would arrive and pretend that he was sent by the buyer.
“He may persuade the victim to walk with him to a deserted area where he becomes aggressive and pulls out a knife, robs her of her belongings, including the items the victim brought with her, and then rapes her.
“The public needs to be careful when shopping online. The criminals use many tricks to lure them in,” she said.
According to the police, they have established that in most of these rapes, the suspect approaches his victims via Facebook.
Police spokeswoman Neldah Sekgobela said they want to raise awareness about this type of crime that emanates from the internet.
“He approaches women on Facebook and sells items like clothes and shoes. He poses as a woman and pretends to be interested in buying the item that the seller (the victim) has posted.
"He then arranges for the seller to bring the item to 'her'. During this time, the conversation between the two began on Messenger, where he later requested a WhatsApp number from the seller. Then the communication moved to WhatsApp,” Sekgobela said.
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Sekgobela said the suspect would tell the victims to bring the items to The Reef Mall or to Wadeville next to the Engen garage.“When the victim gets there and communicates with him, they think they're communicating with a woman. The rapist then tells the victim in a WhatsApp message that he will send someone to pick them up as he is at work,” she said.
Sekgobela said the suspect would ask the victim to send their current location and eventually the rapist would arrive and pretend that he was sent by the buyer.
“He may persuade the victim to walk with him to a deserted area where he becomes aggressive and pulls out a knife, robs her of her belongings, including the items the victim brought with her, and then rapes her.
“The public needs to be careful when shopping online. The criminals use many tricks to lure them in,” she said.
