POLOKWANE – A 20-year-old woman from Westenburg says she lives in fear after her rapist threatened to kill her.
The rape took place in the early hours of last Saturday morning at her friend’s house. According to the woman, she and her friend went out on the Friday night and came home after 04:00 on Saturday morning.
“It was late so I decided to sleep at her house. She sent a message to her brother to say that he must sleep in the main house, so that we can sleep in his room at the back of the house. I fell asleep and a few hours later, I woke up to find that my lower body was unclothed and a half-naked man had his hands between my legs,” the woman explains. She said she immediately demanded to know what he was doing, but the man refused to answer her. “He said he would take me to the people who sent him to me. I went with him and found that it was my friend’s brother and someone else that I know,” the woman said.
She said she returned to her friend’s home to tell her what had happened, and asked her where she had been when the incident occurred. “She told me that she had decided to go and sleep in the main house, and left me alone in the room at the back.” The young woman said she returned to her home where she told her aunt what had happened, and then opened a case of rape with the Westenburg police. She was taken to the Seshego hospital where a doctor examined her, but she said did not receive any counselling or medication to help prevent sexually transmitted infections or pregnancy.
According to her, her alleged rapist was not arrested in spite of her having opened a case.
“The Sunday after the incident, I was standing in front of our yard and the man came and told me that before he goes to jail he will kill me. I was scared. I went to the police and opened a case of intimidation. Still he was not arrested,” she said.
The woman went to the Westenburg police station last Monday to enquire as to why the man had not been arrested. She alleged that the police told her they were not going to arrest him as they were afraid of the “Corner Boys”, which is apparently a gang in Westenburg to which the suspect belongs.
Last Tuesday a detective from the Westenburg police visited the young woman and asked her to contact the police as soon as she saw the suspect, so that they could arrest him.
“On the Wednesday I saw him and I called the police. The police came and I took them to his house, but he refused to get into the police vehicle. He told the police that he would walk and they must follow him, and they did,” the woman said.
“The investigating officer came. The police spoke to him (the suspect) for a while and then they released him. One of the police officials told me that my case had no grounds, and that they would not continue to investigate the matter. The investigating officer had the same attitude. I feel so helpless, because no one wants to help me,” the woman said.
Col Ronél Otto, provincial police spokesperson, said these allegations were seen in a serious light and would be thoroughly investigated.
“Should there be any wrongdoing on the side of the police, the necessary disciplinary steps will be taken immediately.”
She advised the woman to obtain a protection order. An investigation is underway.
• The woman’s name is withheld as she is a victim in a sexual offence case.
