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WATCH: Mixed reactions as Lady Zamar maintains she was raped
“I wouldn’t lie about that. I have no reason to lie..."
Award-winning singer Lady Zamar. Picture: Instagram/@lady_zamar
While the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) decided not to prosecute the case against Sjava due to insufficient evidence, Lady Zamar maintains she was raped in 2017.
The award-winning singer was a guest on Showmax’s new doccie series, Unfollowed, which premiered on Wednesday, 23 August.
Unfollowed delves into the workings of cancel culture and social media through real-life stories of media personalities.
During a sit-down with seasoned broadcaster Thembekile Mrototo, Lady Zamar detailed the incident that she alleges happened in 2017. Telling her story, she was careful not to say the alleged perpetrator’s name. She said this was to avoid defamation of character charges.
“A lot of times women are silenced by defamation receipts…so it’s really that. I will not put the people I work with, who have worked so hard for me, in jeopardy. So I will not speak his name.”
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‘I had always thought it was my fault’ – Lady Zamar
Speaking about the rape incident, Lady Zamar said they were not in a relationship when it happened, and for the longest time, she believed it was her fault.
“I had blamed myself immensely. I felt like it was me who walked into that room, unaware obviously. We were not together at the time. We had never discussed any sexual things, and we had never conducted ourselves in any way that was sexual. There was no prior intimacy that had ever taken place.”
She says a few weeks before the incident, she had a bilateral breast reduction surgery, and her doctor had told her not to engage in physical activities.
“It was a very jarring experience… When it happened, I was heavily medicated. I just blamed myself, like women should not be alone with men. That’s what we are told, especially me. I come from a very religious background.
“So that morning, it just didn’t feel like there was any danger until it happened. I didn’t fight back because I was in stitches. I said stop, but I wasn’t being heard.”
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She says their relationship started after the alleged rape incident
“I felt obliged to be in this relationship. It was at that moment that we ended up being in the relationship because I was confused as to what to do now,” she said.
The Collide hitmaker said she was scared of the man for the longest time. She adds that speaking up on social media about the incident was to alert people that he should be held accountable if anything happened to her.
She says she was not surprised by how people reacted and called her a liar after she opened up.
“I wouldn’t lie about that. I have no reason to lie about that. Even when that stuff came out, I had more to lose than him. I lost more than him.
“It was shocking how my reality became a vocal point of entertainment. It was about ‘we believe you, we don’t believe you.’ It doesn’t matter what you believe and what you don’t believe. I didn’t ask for anyone to believe or not believe me.”
