Community warned of internet dating dangers

The community is warned against the possible dangers of internet dating, especially on platforms such as Facebook. There have been rape and robbery cases in the past few months which occurred at the Glebelands sports ground.

These incidents mostly emanated from Facebook chats. The cases were reported and investigated by Umlazi police officers. According to Umlazi SAPS, there seems to be a new syndicate which the community should be aware of.

The most recent incident occurred on August 22 at about 6pm where a 34-year-old victim was robbed. The victim explained that he had been chatting to a woman he met on Facebook and they agreed to meet up at a location in Q Section, Mayibuye Drive at Umlazi.

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Upon arrival at the agreed address, the victim was welcomed by an unknown male, who showed him where to park and introduced himself as Man-X.

The suspect told the complainant to follow him, took him into an outside building and left him there, saying he was going to drink water. When the suspect returned, he was with two other unknown males. The three men then demanded his belongings.

The suspects attempted to strangle the complainant and took his cellphone and cash. One of the suspects took his car keys and went outside and returned a few moments later. He returned the keys to the victim and they then let him leave.

The victim got inside his vehicle and discovered his driver’s license and identity document which had been inside the car were missing. The victim thereafter proceeded to the Umlazi police station and opened a case.

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The victim directed the police officers back to the crime scene. Upon arrival at the scene, the victim identified the two suspects who had robbed him and they were arrested immediately for robbery. The third suspect could not be found at his place of residence. 

Brig BH Nkabinde, the station commander of Umlazi SAPS, said, “It is clear that criminals will do anything to rob people of their hard-earned cash and valuable goods and therefore, the community is urged to be extra vigilant when considering internet dating.”