A woman was raped at Hout Bay beach on Monday February 12, say police.
Hout Bay police spokeswoman Warrant Officer Tanya Lesch said a man and two women had been listening to music in a kombi at about 1am on the Chapman’s Peak side of the beach.
While they were in the vehicle, they were approached by three unknown men, and an argument broke out between the two groups.
“The male then decided to leave with his girlfriend and they went home, while the other woman decided to stay behind with the three men,” Warrant Officer Lesch said on Tuesday.
It was during this time that the woman was raped, she said.
After managing to escape the men, she sought help from Deep Blue Security at Melkhout Centre.
“One suspect was then arrested for rape and another three suspects were arrested during the morning on Monday,” she said.
A rape case was opened and the suspects appeared at the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday.
The SAPS report differed in several respects to that of the Hout Bay Community Police Forum which was released on Monday afternoon.
According to this report, two women had been “assaulted and abducted”, with one managing to escape the suspects before alerting security agencies.
It also stated that four men had approached the group initially.
This information was not correct, however. CPF chairperson Toby Adams said those details had come from a non-SAPS source. Warrant Officer Lesch said police regularly patrolled along the beach, but she advised against parking there late at night. “Late at night it is not a safe place for anyone, because it is dark and it becomes a deserted area. If someone becomes distressed, there is no one around to hear them calling for help,” she said.
