Abused sisters sue police
SOPHIATOWN – The Schaper sisters are taking the police to task after they had ignored their pleas for help,when they were being abused.
As the country highlights domestic abuse through the 16 Days of Activism campaign, two sisters are taking a stand for the abuse they suffered after losing their mother.
Despite obtaining three protection orders, Brenda Hedges and her two daughters, Cecilia and Lucille Schaper, spent years suffering abuse at the hands of Cecilia’s husband, Roland Bosman.
Defying the court order against him, Bosman went to the family house on 10 November 2013 and set the family matriarch Brenda Hedges alight, burning her alive while she slept in her bedroom, first dousing her with petrol.
Even though Bosman was arrested, trialed and sentenced to life behind bars, the sisters are determined to get justice for their deceased mother.
Speaking on behalf of the family, Lucille Schaper described Bosman as an abuser who, when high on drugs, would constantly torment the family.
“After we were granted the protection orders, we would call the police and sometimes he would be arrested and let go, but mostly the police ignored our pleas for help,” Schaper said.
She further added that because of the police’s lack of response they ended up losing their mother.
“Bosman threatened to burn us on several occasions and we went to the police station on a daily basis to report his threats against us,” Shaper said.
She pointed out that they don’t feel protected and can’t rely on the police to protect them as a family.
“My sister did leave Bosman a few times but she would stay with him because she loved him, and that is why I attempted to remove our mother away from the situation because Bosman was terrorising the family, and my sister, my mother and myself had protection orders granted to us against Bosman,” she explained.
She described one incident where her brother-in-law broke into their house one night in Sophiatown and tried to stab her with a kitchen knife through a door.
“The night Bosman tried to stab me, the children were present. The night he killed my mother, he again did this in front of the children,” an emotional Schaper recalled.
“Life is difficult since our mother died, we miss her a lot but we are still traumatised about what happened and I really hope that Bosman stays in jail for a long time,” she stated.
Sushila Dhever, who is handling the civil case pro-bono on behalf of the Schapers, said her law firm, Fasken Martineau, was committed to the case.
She pointed out that despite the sisters and their mother following all instructions on the protection order to the letter, in terms of the law, the police had failed them.
“My clients are suing the police for around R770 000 due to the emotional trauma that they suffered and pointed out that long-term counselling would be needed in order for the family to recover.
Gauteng Provincial Police spokesperson Lungelo Dlamini said that they were not allowed to comment in such matters and would await the outcome of the court case.
Details: Sophiatown Police Station, 011 670 6300
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