Man arrested for alleged rape and murder of North West girl, 4

North West police have arrested a suspect in connection with the alleged rape and murder of a four-year-old girl on Sunday. 

The 26-year-old man was arrested on Thursday at his home in the Northern Cape.

The little girl's battered and naked body was found dumped in the bushes in Kgomotso, Taung.

According to the police, she had been raped and strangled to death. 

The four-year-old went missing after her mother left her at a friend's residence while she went out drinking at the local tavern.

North West police spokesperson Lt-Col Amanda Funani said the suspect was a colleague of the mother and one of the people who accompanied her from the tavern to her friend's house. 

“The suspect allegedly waited for the mother to fall asleep, then kidnapped the child and took her to the nearby bushes, where he [allegedly] raped and killed her,” Funani told TimesLIVE. 

Police confirmed that the suspect would appear in the Kgomotso magistrate’s court on Monday on rape and murder charges. 

TimesLIVE