Cop held after rape suspect escapes
April 17 2015 at 11:07am
By Botho Molosankwe
Independent
Media
Johannesburg - A Soweto police officer has been arrested after a rape
suspect escaped under his watch. The officer had initially laid a charge of
escaping under lawful custody against the suspect.
But a few hours later he was thrown behind bars and charged with aiding
and abetting the escape of a suspect.
He appeared in court on Thursday, but was freed after a prosecutor
declined to prosecute. The officer was expected to report for duty on Friday.
Spokesman for the provincial police Lieutenant-Colonel Lungelo Dlamini
said: “We are continuing with internal investigations on the circumstances
regarding the escape.”
Vusumzi Sikhosana was arrested for housebreaking and rape and detained
at Moroka police station. It has been alleged that he raped a woman who was
known to him and stole her two cellphones.
On Wednesday, two police officers took him to Chris Hani Baragwanath
Academic Hospital for his blood to be drawn for DNA.
However, late in the afternoon, one of the two officers arrived at
Moroka police station, saying Sikhosana had escaped and he wanted to lay a
charge against him.
A source, who did not want to be identified, said the officers at the
charge office wanted to know why he would drive all the way to Moroka police
station instead of laying a charge in Diepkloof, which is closer to where the
crime happened. They refused to open the case and sent him to Diepkloof police
station.
At Diepkloof police station, the officer allegedly claimed his partner
had left him with the suspect in the car at the hospital. He said it seemed as
if the handcuffs had not been secured properly on Sikhosana because he managed
to get out of the car and fled.
The Star contacted the National Prosecuting Authority’s Phindi Louw to
find out the reasons for the prosecutor’s refusal to prosecute. She had not got
hold of the prosecutor at the time of publication.
Dlamini said they had started with the disciplinary proceedings against
the cop.
His partner hadn’t been charged.
Anyone with information regarding Sikhosana’s whereabouts should contact
the police.
botho.molosankwe@inl.co.za
The Star
