Woman bites off half of rapist's tongue

South African police are looking for a man whose finger and tongue were bitten off by a woman he raped near Carolina.

The woman was hitch-hiking to Carolina on Friday when the man gave her a lift around 6pm, Warrant Officer David Mbenekazi said on Tuesday.

"The man stopped the car near Mooiplaas farm and hit the woman with a soft drink bottle several times on the upper body. He then dragged the woman to the bushes and raped her.

"While raping the woman, the man tried to kiss her but she bit off half of his tongue, forcing him to jump away in pain."

Mbenekazi said the attacker tried to grab hold of the woman again. She then bit off the little finger of his right hand and ran away, leaving the two body parts on the scene.

Passers-by took the woman to Hendrina police station.

"It seemed the man fled with his finger and piece of the tongue because police did not find them at the scene. We are appealing to the members of the public to help us arrest him," said Mbenekazi.

The woman was admitted to a local hospital for treatment

A case of rape had been opened for investigation.

The suspect was still at large.