A Mpumalanga matric pupil says she fears for her life after learning the man who allegedly raped her was released from police custody a week after the attack.

The 19-year-old girl from Siyabuswa was allegedly raped while walking home with a family friend last year.

She had not been aware that the man she accused of raping her had been released. She only learnt in January that the suspect was back in her community and intimidating her family.

"I was violated by people I knew, and even after describing them to the police, I feel like I'm far from getting justice because they are walking freely in the streets," she said.

The teen said she and a male family friend who accompanied her home were approached by two men who pointed guns and forced them into the bushes near Siyabuswa on Moloto Road where she was raped.

"They took us to the bushes where we were instructed to take our clothes off... I felt like I was dead because I began feeling dizzy." The teen said while they raped her, the male friend was made to watch naked, at gunpoint.

"When they were done they then told him to rape me as well. When he failed, he was whipped with a gun on the head and told to try harder, but he couldn't get an erection."

She said the two men took their cellphones and vanished into a graveyard.

"I lay on the cold ground with my back numb from being pressed against the rocks. My legs were numb. My friend gathered our scattered clothes, and helped me to my feet and to dress." They called the police. The teen's mother opened a case of rape at the Dennilton police in Limpopo which is near her workplace.

"I was in pain and I eventually described the perpetrators to the police who managed to catch one, and released him without informing my family."

Limpopo police spokesperson Brig Motlafela Mojapelo said the case was withdrawn last year due to pending DNA results.

"The suspect was released after more than two court appearances at the Mdutjana magistrate's court. The investigating officer had the duty to inform the family of the withdrawal and the release of the man."

The mother of the pupil said her daughter failed her matric as a result of the trauma and emotional scars she suffered.