Maun police have issued a warning about a suspected serial rapist who is allegedly running loose in Maun and raping women at night.
Since the beginning of this month, February 2023, at least fourteen rape incidents have been reported at Maun police station.
Maun Police station Commander, Dennis Zilawe said most of the cases were seemingly perpetrated by the serial rapist.
“We plead with you to identify this culprit and help us arrest him as he has seemingly turned into an animal that cannot co-exist with people. He needs to be arrested and taken for correctional services,” advised Zilawe.
He further noted that the culprit uses similar attack methods and that he attacks in wee hours of the morning, especially around 01:00 and 02 00 AM.
Zilawe explained that in most cases the attacked women did not hear the rapist sneak into their houses and only woke up when the attacker was at the foot of their beds and threatened them with a knife.
“Even when he finds two women in the same house he attacks and rapes them both at knife point,” he added.
Zilawe therefore warned Maun residents to ensure they tightly secure windows and doors before going to bed and avoid going to outside toilets at odd hours.
He further advised the residents to fix any loose windows or doors in their houses as a security measure.
In the meantime the police are still in search of the said rapist, but they do not have his clear description as he allegedly attacks under the cover of a dark night.
Zilawe was addressing a Kgotla meeting at Sedie ward in Maun last Thursday.
The Station Commander who was transferred to Maun from Gumare at the beginning of this month is addressing kgotla meetings to discuss issues of safety and security.
In the meatime, Sedie kgotla tribal leader, Kgosi Judith Sedumedi noted that there was a similar case in the village some years back and the culprit was arrested with the help of community involvement and cluster policing.
She therefore called on the police to re-introduce the cluster policing, an idea that Zilawe was in support.
