OUTRAGE AS MISSING GIRL FOUND IN PAROLEE'S HOME

Man to appear in court on rape charge

- MANDILAKHE TSHWETE

A 51-YEAR-OLD man has been charged with rape after a desperate search for a missing 9-year-old girl turned into a night of chaos and violence in Hanover Park, after she was found inside his home.

The young girl had been on her way to a madressa at a mosque at around 3pm on Tuesday when she reportedly encountered the man, who was recently released on parole, who handed her R20 and asked her to buy milk from a nearby tuckshop.

According to her family, she never returned.

Missing persons' organisations were alerted and immediately began circulating posters of the child, sparking widespread concern as they went viral across social media.

Her father, 29, said he was informed of her disappearance just as he arrived in Hanover Park from work.

"I had just stepped out of the taxi when my mother phoned me to say my daughter hadn't come home and they were looking for her," he said.

"When I asked why I wasn't told sooner, she said she had just come home and they'd already checked the mosque and searched the area.

"We went to the girl she was walking with, who told us that a man gave her R20 for milk.

"My daughter went to take the milk to him and never came back. That girl didn't see where the man went."