Diepkloof woman battling to recover from rape
Last year, the Diepkloof SAPS launched a manhunt for an alleged rape suspect who was terrorizing the community, allegedly raping and robing females around the area and she suspects it is the same man.
For three years now, a Diepkloof woman has been battling to recover from rape and she says that she has never been herself ever since that day.
The rape has affected her in every aspect of life to a point where she never wanted to leave her house for the longest time.
She says she wanted to relate her story to the Soweto Urban readers not only because she wants justice but also because she doesn’t wish what happened to her to happen to another woman.
“I wouldn’t wish that even on my worst enemy,” she said.
“It was 2018 on a normal morning around 5 am and I was doing what I normally do every morning, which walks out of the house to go catch a taxi to Bara, go to the gym then later go to work. I saw a man but did not pay attention because I did not think he was going to harm me. Rapists are not written on their foreheads, right? So, I continued walking then he approached me, in a blink of an eye, he had a gun to my face, ordering me to give him my cellphone, he was so rude and even insulted me and I thought that was unnecessary because I was going to give him my cellphone anyway, I was terrified,” she said.
[also read] – Angry residents assault a man for allegedly raping a physically challenged 15-year-old
The suspect allegedly asked how much money she had and she said she only had R50, but she said she was confused when he still insisted on taking her with him even after she showed a willingness to give him her belongings.
“After I told him I had R50, he asked me where I was going, I told him I was going to Bara, and I was willing to give him my belongings but it seems like there was more to this. At this point, I thought he was going to kill me because he held me at gunpoint ordering me around until he took me to an open space which was also a dumping site. You can imagine how dirty the place was, I begged him to not kill me, and rape was the last thing on my mind. He kept on saying, ‘we don’t kill people who are cooperative’, I didn’t know what he meant by ‘we’,” she said.
“He then said, give me one round, meaning he wanted to have sex with me, I was shocked, I looked at him with confusion, but he had a gun on me and told me to take off my clothes, he even dared to ask me if I had a condom, trust me at that point I wished I had it, at least to protect myself from possible infections since I couldn’t protect myself from getting raped. He did it! He raped me, I was so helpless, and I had no energy to fight.”
She said he also took her bank card and asked for a pin but she gave him the wrong one because it was her payday, she couldn’t afford to lose all her money and then he gave her R9 for taxi fare since she had said that she was going to Bara. Even though the perpetrator told her if she went to the police, he was going to kill her because he knows where she stays, she still did it she reported the case.
“I reported the case but the man is still not arrested, I am angry, it has affected me emotionally, I have attempted suicide several times I even ended up in a psych ward and I still see the psychiatrist because I have so much anxiety. When I leave home, I make sure I wear extremely loose fits, I make sure I don’t wear anything that shows my body shape, It hurts, it’s not even about what I was wearing on that day, I was wearing nothing too revealing since that’s what people always assume, but you should know rapists will rape a baby in a diaper, because they’re sick, it’s not about the victim. I have gained so much weight because I have abandoned myself,” she said.
She is a mother to a teenager and she says that justice won’t necessarily heal her but will make her stop suffocating her daughter because she has so much anxiety.
“I feel like I am suffocating my daughter because I want to make sure that she is okay, I get scary thoughts and start thinking something bad might happen to her, she needs to be free. At some point, I even thought I am a mess and I have nothing to offer as a mother so she stayed with her father. I want justice, that will not undo the rape and bring back my dignity but will give me so much hope,” she concludes.
She suspects that her rapist is the same suspect the police are looking for because she says he seems to be operating the same way. Last year, the Diepkloof SAPS launched a manhunt for an alleged rape suspect who was terrorizing the community, allegedly raping and robbing females around the area and at that time, he was said to be operating around Zone 6 near an open space next to Universal Church and Zone 4’s busiest street, Immink Drive. The suspect is still wanted by the police.
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