A serial rapist - who blindfolded one of his victims with her own underwear during an attack - was ordered to spend 30 years behind bars.

The Welkom regional court on Monday found Xakekile Charlon Meyer, 37, from Bothaville in the Free State, guilty of the rapes of two minors, aged seven and 10 respectively, and three adult women in separate incidents.

“The rapist attacked three adult women and two minors and raped them. The incidents took place in separate incidents from 2015 until 2016 in Bothaville. A thorough investigation was conducted which led to the arrest of the suspect and he was linked with DNA,” said police spokesperson Cpt Stephen Thakeng.

When one of the three women, aged 54, was raped, she was reportedly walking alone at night at an informal settlement in Kgotsong, Bothaville, when an unknown person slapped her on her back and forced her to lie on the ground. She undressed and her face was blindfolded with her underwear while she was raped, police said.

The second women, aged 58, was reportedly on her way to her daughter’s house when a man she thought was her neighbour grabbed her and forced her to the ground. She was pulled into a ditch and strangled moments before she was raped, said Thakeng.

The third adult victim was a 21-year-old, but police did not provide details of her attack.

Meanwhile one of the two minors, a girl aged seven, was raped and assaulted at a train bridge, while the other, aged 10, was raped at a cemetery.

“The [police] cluster commander of Welkom, Maj-Gen Lerato Molale, applauded members for a job well done in ensuring a thorough investigation to remove this rapist from the society of Bothaville,” said Thakeng.