Rape victim lives with pain of rape as well as rejection
As if the pain of being raped is not bad enough, people are talking behind my back and laughing at me as if I am the villain in the matter, says a 20-year-old woman from Wes-tenburg, who was raped in February.
POLOKWANE – As if the pain of being raped is not bad enough, people are talking behind my back and laughing at me as if I am the villain in the matter, says a 20-year-old woman from Wes-tenburg, who was raped in February.
“The man who raped me shows no remorse for what he has done. Instead he and his friends laugh at me when they see me in the street and people talk about me behind my back.
“I don’t know what I would have done, if I didn’t have my family’s support,” the woman explains.
She currently receives counselling at the Seshego Hospital’s Thuthuzela Care unit.
“The man was never arrested. The police allege that they are waiting for blood results, but could not confirm how long that would take.
“I just want this nightmare to end,” the woman says.
The rape took place in the early hours of February 15 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 should 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 says 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 says 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 to sleep in the main house and left me alone in the room in the back.”
The young woman says she returned to her home where she told her aunt what had happened and then opened a case of rape with the Westenburg police.
The Sunday after the incident happened, she was standing in front of their yard when the man allegedly came to her and threatened her. “He told me 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,” the woman tells Review.
Capt Mohlaka Mashiane, Westenburg police spokesperson, says the case of intimidation was withdrawn in court due to a lack of evidence. “The rape case is still under investigation, as we are still waiting for the laboratory results,” Mashaine explains.
