SUSPECTS OUT AFTER CASE STRUCK OFF ROLL
A LIMPOPO woman is living in fear after the Marble Hall Magistrate’s Court released two men who allegedly raped her.
The woman said she had been unable to sleep since the men were freed.
She said she was raped at Matlerekeng village near Marble Hall on January 25.
The 19-year-old woman said she was walking home from a local tavern at about 9pm when she was accosted by two men who dragged her into some bushes and took turns to rape her.
A friend advised her to report the matter to the police.
“The police took me to a doctor who treated me,” the woman said.
But she said the local police station refused to open a case.
“When I went to the station commander at Marble Hall to report the rape, I was told that I had encouraged the men because I was wearing a miniskirt,” she said.
The woman said she was also worried because no one had told her the men had been released.
“I feel unsafe since their release and I do not know whether they will harm me again, to conceal the evidence,” she added.
Limpopo police spokesman Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said an inquiry into the conduct of the station commander was under way.
“As for the case itself, the victim was briefed that the matter was struck off the roll after our members had failed to conform to the magistrate ’ s instructions.
“But the case will be brought back once we have adhered to the instructions, ” he said, without explaining what the instructions were. –