A 65-year-old Eastern Cape woman bit off the tongue of a vark who allegedly attempted to rape her over the weekend.
On Saturday night, the 33-year-old man allegedly broke into the home of the elderly woman in Tsomo Mission, in the Chris Hani District Municipality, police spokesperson Colonel Sibongile Soci said.
The gogo was at home alone, sleeping, when she was awoken by the sound of the perpetrator entering the house.
The man allegedly attempted to rape the elderly woman and when he forced her to kiss him she bit off his tongue.
The man fled the scene of the crime and made his way to a hospital in the Cofimvaba area to seek medical attention.
But the police tracked him down and arrested him on Sunday, said Soci.
Acting Eastern Cape provincial commissioner Major-General Thembisile Patekile commended the police for their swift reaction and the arrest of the suspect.
Soci said the suspect was under police guard at the hospital and would appear before the Tsomo Magistrates' Court soon on a charge of attempted rape.
National crime statistics released by the South African Police Service this year paint a grim picture regarding the safety of women in the Eastern Cape.
The report showed that the Mthatha Police Station recorded the third highest number of rape cases in the country, 257 cases, for the 2019/20 financial year.