Durban — A Durban mother who was abducted at knifepoint and raped, was then forced to endure further trauma by three policewomen who were meant to help her, but instead allegedly colluded with the perpetrator in threatening, intimidating and forcing her to withdraw the charges.
The mother of three has since been placed in a witness protection programme for her safety.
Policewomen Gugulethu Precious Buthelezi, Phila Eunice Xulu and Sanele Patricia Zuma, working in a unit mandated to uphold the rights of rape victims, appeared at the Durban Regional Court last week over the allegations made by the victim.
The mother was walking home from work in March when the suspect accosted her with a knife and raped her. She reported the rape at SAPS Brighton Beach, and was then directed to the on-site Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) unit, where the policewomen, all experienced detectives with over 20 years’ service, worked.
Later, realising that the suspect, who was known to her, had not yet been arrested, the mother approached another policeman in the Bluff area.
The woman told the policeman that her case was not being attended to and noticed the suspect was frequenting a local playground for children.
The suspect was arrested and the related docket was handed to the FCS unit but he was released almost immediately. A few days later she approached the same policeman and expressed her surprise at the suspect’s release. She also told the officer that the suspect threatened to rape her again and kill her children.
The suspect was re-arrested and placed in the care of the FCS unit again.
Not long thereafter, the policewomen, with the help of the suspect, allegedly tracked the victim down, handcuffed her and transported her back to the station in the same vehicle as the suspect.
It is alleged that the policewomen got the witnesses, who had backed the victim’s claim that the suspect threatened her, to retract their statements.
They allegedly took the victim to the station at 4pm on March 27 and detained her.
While in detention, the suspect, who was seated outside the victim’s holding cell, allegedly shouted and threatened her, demanding she withdraw the charges.
Overwhelmed, the mother relented and made a statement saying she lied about the rape and intimidation claims and withdrew the charges.
She was then charged with defeating the course of justice and the arrest was officially logged at about 8pm, even though she was already in a holding cell.
During the victim’s court appearance she refused to enter the dock and remained in a holding cell, until the prosecutor handling the matter approached her.
That’s when the prosecutor realised the woman was a victim of rape and faced trumped up charges. She was not required to appear in court and the matter was struck off the court roll.
The three policewomen then refused to cooperate with IPID’s investigations and were arrested while readying themselves for shift duty last week.
Buthelezi was charged for defeating the course of justice for allegedly releasing the suspected rapist without a mandatory court appearance. She had allegedly granted the suspect a SAPS 328 release, which was not permissible as he faced a charge related to a serious offence. Xulu and Zuma were charged for intimidation when they appeared before acting regional court magistrate Mayne Mewanlall. The officers were also charged with crimen injuria and charges under the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act.
They were released on R5000 bail each. One of the bail conditions was that the accused hand over their cellphones to the Independent Police Investigative Directorate’s investigating officer.
The alleged rapist has been arrested and is being charged separately.
Sunday Tribune