THE missing 17-year-old Soweto girl who was filmed being gang-raped was yesterday found with a 37-year-old man who claimed to be her boyfriend.

The mentally disabled girl had been missing from her Braamfischerville home for over three weeks. It has now emerged that she had been kidnapped and gang-raped by seven men aged between 14 and 20 years. The seven were arrested on Tuesday in Dobsonville. They are expected to appear in the Roodepoort Magistrate's Court today.

Yesterday, police arrested the 37-year-old man for rape and kidnapping of the teenager. He was arrested in Doornkop, where the girl was allegedly kept as a sex slave.

The man was expected to appear in court tomorrow.

A source close to the case said the man informed police officers that the girl was his girlfriend and that she came to visit him on Tuesday.

Gauteng MEC for community safety and security Faith Mazibuko visited the girl's family yesterday.

Mazibuko said this was the third time that the girl had gone missing, though the mother did not report the case. She said she wanted the mother to be charged with negligence.

Minister of Women, Children and People with Disabilities Lulu Xingwana condemned the rape.

"This despicable crime does not belong to our free and democratic society. We must all spare a thought for this young girl who has been violated in such a cruel and inhuman way," Xingwane said.

Childline director Lynne Cawood said: "I hope the police take her for proper medical examination and look at possibilities of ARVs to prevent sexually transmitted diseases."

This was not the first time the girl was raped. She was allegedly first raped when she was 12 years old.