Probe into ‘unprofessional’ police response to teen
THE police have launched an investigation to determine if officers behaved unprofessionally when teenager Sanet de Lange’s brother was allegedly turned away from the Rondebosch police station.
De Lange’s brother, Marius Strydom, went to the Rondebosch police station to lay a charge so that the police could investigate who had attacked her in the early hours on Friday morning.
The officer allegedly said Sanet was “just another drunk girl”. He allegedly also asked who he was meant to charge, since Sanet was on her own.
Sanet was attacked shortly after leaving Tiger Tiger, a popular nightclub on the first floor of Stadium on Main in Claremont.
Her family hired private investigator Jack Brice, who accelerated the investigation and got access to CCTV footage outside Tiger Tiger.
The footage shows Sanet, dressed in takkies, jeans and a red jacket, outside the club. She was followed by three men while leaving the club shortly after 4am.
A few hours later Rondebosch police officers found her unconscious, injured, and covered in mud and leaves.
An ambulance took her to hospital, where a head gash was stitched and she was treated for concussion and several bruises, cuts and scrapes.
Yesterday, police spokesman André Traut said they had launched an investigation into the behaviour of the police officers.
He denied reports that police officers had thrown Sanet into a van, thinking that she was dead.
“Had the officers been under this impression (that Sanet was dead), under no circumstances would the body of a victim be removed until an investigation of the scene has been completed,” Traut said.
Sanet is still trying to piece together what happened to her between 2am and when she woke up in a hospital ward on Friday morning.
Watching the CCTV footage yesterday, she said nothing jogged her memory.
She could not remember any of the people standing outside the club, or going to speak to one of the bouncers.
Sanet said her last distinct memory at the club was of her telling her friends she was going to stay behind and would catch a lift with someone else.
Her last memory is of her covering herself with mud and leaves, she said.