OWN ENEMIES Naive women condemned for endangering their lives

Police have observed with great concern how some women invite danger upon themselves and end up getting attacked and sometimes raped. Post Commander at Gabane Police Post, Assistant Superintendent Mbiganyi Letsholathebe told residents of Goo-Shaudi ward during a Neighbourhood Watch meeting that some ladies put themselves at risk despite being the most vulnerable members of society.

He recalled how he recently found a woman at the top of Gabane Hill in the presence of two men, claiming to be on a religious excursion.

“I was not impressed because women get naked up there and told to take a bath or things are smeared on their bodies. This is how some end up getting raped. How can a woman be naked in the presence of two men and not fear for the worst,” Letsholathebe wondered?

He said times have changed and that people should stop being too trusting because criminals attack in different ways. He urged men to love their women properly, saying men should take the responsibility of ensuring that their women are safe.

“If she knocks off late from work, ensure that you go meet her up and accompany her home, it is not advisable to use passages at night because these are where criminals lurk and strike the most.”

Letsholathebe said they have also registered cases where women found themselves traveling long distances for lovers they met online, especially on Facebook. This, he said was a risky act as women get used for sex and left stranded.

Sub Inspector Kenaope Fane urged women to also exercise vigilance against sex predators, saying men are sweet talkers when they want sex. And once they get what they want, they disappear because love was never on the menu.

Women responded by acknowledging that indeed they are in trouble. One woman even shared how criminals have developed a new trick to defraud them.

What criminals allegedly do is find a woman walking in the streets and pretend to be buddies or having a relationship with them. They shout things like, ‘hey! sexy, where have you been?’ Or they casually say wow! So you are cheating on me?

Such remarks will make onlookers mind their own business thinking that the two strangers know each other. And when such happens, the woman also enters a mode of confusion, wondering if they are being mistaken for someone else and it is at that moment that the criminal strikes.