The discovery of a child lying in a pool of blood at a shack in Diepsloot, has led to a track and trace operation for the suspect.
But the community's anger over the incident may have led to the destruction of some evidence.
Police spokesperson Brig Brenda Muridili said the three-year-old girl was in the care of her grandmother on Sunday while her mother was at work.
A man they know took her and two other children to buy sweets.
When only two children returned a community search ensued. The injured child was found and taken to a medical facility for attention.
“Police were called to the scene and upon arrival saw the shack where the child was found had been destroyed by the community.
“The police appeal to communities to refrain from tampering with crime scenes as that jeopardises the integrity of evidence and clues which have to be collected by crime scene management from the forensic science laboratory,” Muridili said.
“Valuable information can be lost and tainted by the time the police arrive on the crime scene.”
The team tracing the suspect comprises detectives from the family violence, child protection and sexual offences unit in Honeydew, the K9 unit, drone unit and crime intelligence.
TimesLIVE
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