A 22-year-old man had on Saturday been apprehended by Willowvale police for allegedly raping a four-year-old girl.

Captain Jackson Manatha attested that it was reported that the suspect went to the building of the victim at about 3pm on Thursday at Mhlanga locality, Nqabara village, Willowvale.

"The suspect requested mealies from the grandmother of the victim. He was given the mealies and walked to a shack within the home of the victim to braai the mealies.

“The four-year-old toddler went to the same shack where the suspect was. After some time, the granny went to the same shack and found the victim naked and the suspect half-naked."

It was the outcry of the grandmother that alerted the residents, in which they trailed the fleeing suspect and caught him afterwards.

He was subsequently handed over to Willowvale police who apprehended him and prosecuted him with rape.

Captain Manatha said the suspect would face the Willowvale Magistrate’s Court on Monday on a rape charge.

Butterworth policing cluster commander, Brigadier Ngangema Xakavu rebuked the reported rape of the toddler, and acknowledged the inhabitants of Nqabara village for their support in catching the suspect and not taking the law into their own hands.