A 22-year-old woman who was lured to Thabong, Welkom, on the pretence of employment promised via Facebook, was robbed and raped at gunpoint by the man who duped her.
A woman from Lesotho was promised employment by an unknown person on Facebook. She had seen the advert of employment on a page called “A re batlisaneng mesebetsi Basotho”, meaning “Let us assist to look for employment Basotho”.
She started communicating with the advertiser through text messages and phone calls, after he had posted a vacancy at his work place called Egg Company.
The young woman was in Pretoria when she started to show interest and was promised the job if she would come to Thabong on Sunday, 5 March. Her employment would start on Monday, 6 March.
“She boarded a taxi from the Bosman taxi rank in Pretoria and arrived at Manny’s in Welkom, at about 21:00. She was lured to Jabulani Village where she was raped several times and robbed of her cellphones and luggage containing her clothing.
“The suspect speaks Sotho with a Lesotho accent and he was wearing a yellow t-shirt with a black collar, black track pants, and white bucket hat. A case of rape and robbery was registered for further investigation,” says Capt. Stephen Thakeng, media liaison officer for the Lejweleputswa police.
He says the police are warning residents to avoid relationships and employment opportunities offered on social media. “They must rather correspond with the managers of companies directly and not through third parties,” he says.
Anyone with information that will lead to the arrest of this bogus employer on Facebook, must contact Det. Sgt. Joseph Lebone of the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences unit on 082-885-2428 or Crime Stop number 08600-10111.
