Good and bad news for little rape victims

TWO little girls claimed they were raped in the same incident, but only one has seen the man they accused convicted.

The second girl’s own story was the only proof she could offer and it was not enough for the court.

Magistrate Simon Radasi found Thato Masuku, 21, guilty of one rape but not the other at the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on Friday.

Lesedi, 9, and Thando, 10, – not their real names to protect their identities – said Masuku raped them at the Hillbrow flat where Thando lived when they were seven and eight years old on October 12 2013.

The girls said they were playing in the flat when Masuku, a neighbour, knocked on the door asking to borrow a kettle.

Both demonstrated during their testimony that Masuku had mounted and penetrated them.

When Lesedi’s mother arrived to collect her, she found the children in just their underwear. Lesedi told her mother that Masuku had raped her and Thando confirmed it.

Lesedi was examined by a doctor hours later but Thando, who did not report her alleged rape immediately, was only taken to a doctor on October 15.

Radasi said this was

The doctor confirmed that Lesedi had been penetrated due to injuries to her genitalia, but could not conclusively make the same finding in Thando’s case.

In addition to the doctor’s report,

unfortunate. Thando testified that she had seen Masuku rape Lesedi, Radasi said.

But Lesedi testified that though she had seen Masuku go to Thando, she did not see what he did to her.

Masuku, who pleaded not guilty to both rapes and raised the defence of an alibi, was acquitted of Thando’s rape.

Radasi did not criticise the credibility of Thando’s evidence but said she was a single witness with no corroboration for her testimony.

Vincentia Dlamini-Ngobese of advocacy organisation Women and Men Against Child Abuse said a court could take other evidence, like reports from a social worker or psychologist, into consideration when a complainant’s story was not supported by medical evidence.

Lisa Vetten, a researcher at the Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research, said it was unfortunate that Thando not reporting her alleged rape right away might have cost a conviction.

“Sometimes it’s helpful to explain to courts that there is no template for how rape victims should behave. There is a need for education in the legal system for how trauma manifests,” she said.

Vetten also said she believed the number of people reporting rapes was dropping.

Masuku’s father, Michael, does not believe his son is guilty.

“My son was not there at that time. He went to see his aunt in Rosebank and came back late,” he said outside court.

Sentencing proceedings will begin in October. —