A man who allegedly repeatedly raped a 31-year-old disabled mother of two from Lephengville in Hammanskraal was finally arrested on Sunday 19/11/2017.
The man who seemed to be untouchable to the police, after the disabled woman finally opened a rape case against him.
When Moretele Times approached her for an interview the day before the suspect was arrested, the disabled woman was reluctant to talk to the media because she was afraid the ex-boyfriend would kill her as the ex-boyfriend’s cousin allegedly killed another woman after poring her with acid.
The disabled woman said the second time the ex-boyfriend allegedly raped her, he was trying to kick down the door when a neighbor intervened and ask the disabled woman to open the door and talk to the suspect. “My neighbor said I should open so we can talk, after I let him in he locked the door and started raping me.
“I told him I had a new boyfriend but he persisted on sleeping with me without my permission, this happened first time on the 20th of October 2017.
“On 2 November 2017 he raped me for the second time and took our two year old baby girl to his house in Majaneng at around 22:00 without my permission”,. she said.
The first time the police advised her to apply for a protection order that was not enforced because the police did not ensure that the suspect signed it. It was only after the second time that she was raped that she was advised by a woman police officer to open a rape case.
She said when she went with the police to retrieve her child from the ex-boyfriend, she was uneasy about how friendly the police related to the suspect and when she left the suspect allegedly asked the police to remain behind. She was further shocked when a day later she saw the perpetrator in the company of the investigating officer.
She said after that the ex-boyfriend came to her house whenever he felt like it to intimidate and harass her. When she went to complain to the police station, she was told to call the police when she sees him so that the police can serve him with a protection order. This left her helpless as she was expected to do the work of the police to ensure that the protection order is served.
At the time of the suspect being arrested, the victim had now moved to her mother’s house out of fear of being attacked.
The brother of the disabled woman, who contacted Power FM and subsequently Moretele Times, said the bullying has been going on for some time. “Even though the suspect is the father to the two year old, my sister left him when the baby was about a year old because of the abuse.
“As a family, we had concerns because we knew that the ex-boyfriend is a drunkard and abused her and we were happy to see them separate, but the abuse did not stop,” said the brother who cannot be named for security reasons.
The brother said her sister would now be disadvantaged because the first officer who advised her to seek a protection order instead of opening a rape case mislead her and now the doctor will not be able to retrieve evidence.
Spokesperson at the Temba Police Stations, Constable Herman Moremi, said, “Complainants in similar situations should contact Vispol Commander, Col Kgwefane to lodge a formal complaint.
“Community members should identify the police officer’s surname so that steps can be taken, no member of the community should leave the police station without assistance.
“It was even wrong to expect the victim to enforce or serve a protection order because on the form there is part that must be completed and signed by the police, unless if it is a warning letter and sometimes people confuse the two.”
“If the suspect refuses to sign, the police officer is bound to sign on the suspect’s behalf and even if the suspect refuses to sign, it is binding immediately after it is served and the complainant will take return of served order back to court and the police will file a copy,” Constable Moremi said.
The rape victim’s Mother said she is disappointed about how the case was handled by the police. “I am completely left with no words to explain my anger of how our local police handled the matter, they failed to open a rape case when we had evidence and now the suspect can get away and come back to terrorize us because the evidence has been lost,” she said.
