Police in the Free State have raised concern over the province’s alarming increase in reported cases of rape.
Authorities say there is a concerning trend of reported rape cases where victims were under the influence of alcohol or other substances.
Free State Police spokesperson Sergeant Peter Kareli says last week alone, 35 rape cases were reported in the province.
Kareli says they have undertaken tavern visits as one of the steps to address this issue.
“We also are continuing with tavern dialogues where we engage with tavern owners and we have actually decided that we are now going to increase our travel and visits because when you call community meetings, the people who attend are not the targeted group, which are males. So we always have females who are attending our community meetings where we give hints and we give we talks to them on how they can try to protect themselves and not fall victim to such cases. So we also are going to continue going to taverns or visit taverns, more specially at night because that’s when all these incidents are happening.”
PODCAST| Free State police concerned over increase in rape incidents:
Emotional send-off for slain teacher
An emotional final send-off was held for a Tsoseletso High School teacher in Bloemfontein, Mpho Moalosi, who was allegedly killed by her boyfriend Steven Sejakane, who drove over her multiple times with a car.
Her body was found on the R702 road near the Mangaung Prison.
Her car was found at her boyfriend’s house where he had been hiding under the bed.
Moalosi was reported missing by her brother over a week ago after he could not find her in the house.
During her funeral service, Premier Maqueen Letsoha-Mathae, appealed to men to reflect on the unacceptable killing of women and to lead in the fight against gender-based violence.
VIDEO | Three women killed in the Free State in one week:
