A 32-year-old man was arrested for allegedly assaulting his girlfriend and raping her 74-year-old grandmother at their Northern Cape home, police said on Friday.

Police spokesperson Brigadier Mohale Ramatseba said it was alleged that during a “heated argument” with his girlfriend, the man allegedly assaulted her and her sister.

When the two sisters fled the scene, the man allegedly raped their 74-year-old visually impaired grandmother, Ramatseba said.

The suspect was arrested on Thursday morning near Olifantshoek.   

In a separate incident in Noupoort in the province, a 48-year-old man was arrested for the murder of his wife. He appeared in the Noupoort magistrate’s court on Wednesday and his case was postponed to June 23 for a formal bail application.  

“Crimes against women and children, particularly the elderly, cannot be tolerated and no effort will be spared in ensuring that the perpetrators are harshly dealt with in terms of the law,” provincial police commissioner Lt-Gen Risimati Peter Shivuri said.