The Benoni serial rapist has not only put the fear of death into his potential blonde-haired victims, but also in the residents of the town. The rapist has slipped through the fingers of the police, while a "sighting frenzy" has erupted.
Fear in the town was heightened after police issued a warning to all blonde-haired girls not to walk in the streets alone. And investigators are convinced that family or acquaintances of the rapist are withholding information from them. Investigating officer Sergeant Deon Pieterse said he was convinced that people knew who the rapist was. He warned that withholding information was a criminal offence and that it was best for people to come forward with information.
Last week, the police issued an identikit of a blond man, who has been identified as being the rapist of three girls between the ages of 12 and Pieterse pointed out that the rapist preferred blonde girls and cautioned them not to walk alone because the rapist thinks nothing of forcing them into his red Opel Corsa bakkie. He then drives off to a deserted plot in Bredell, rapes them and returns them to where he found them.
Since the information has become public knowledge, police have received a flood of calls from people claiming to have spotted the rapist. She explained it could be a possibility that the caller had been hysterical about the news of the rapist and had thought he knew him because he wanted the rapist caught. Pieterse said he received about 20 calls a day from people claiming to have seen the rapist, but none of the information had assisted in tracking down a suspect. He added he did not believe the rapist would go into hiding, despite his close encounter with the police last week, when a police car chased his vehicle but was unable to catch up with it.
Potgieter said that sometimes people called two or three days after they had allegedly spotted the rapist, and she insisted that people call the police immediately. Benoni residents on Sunday night expressed concern about the rapist, but none of those interviewed felt they were particularly at risk.
