Outrage at cell filming of naked, pregnant relative

AVERULAM man is in hot water for allegedly secretly filming his pregnant relative while she was bathing at his house. On Monday the shocked woman asked police to open a charge of crimen injuria as her dignity had been impaired.

The 15 minute video clip came to light when the alleged voyeur downloaded music from his laptop on to a memory stick for the woman’s husband – but inadvertently copied the offending footage as well.

The husband, an unemployed father of three, said he was “shocked” when he saw the video this month. It was apparently taken in September.

“You read about things like this happening to others, but you never imagine something like this would happen to your family,” he said.

The relative, whose identity is known to POST, has, however, professed his innocence.

The man, in his forties, confirmed taking the video on his cellphone, but told POST yesterday (Tuesday) that his intentions were good.

Disturbed

“My stepdaughter is disturbed and has left home a couple of times. She is always speaking to someone on the cellphone from the bathroom and I wanted to know what she was up to. That was the only reason why I put the cellphone in the bathroom,” he said.

“I did not intend taking a video of her (the complainant) having a bath. I did not even see the video,” he claimed.

He said he did not know how the content was transferred from the cellphone to his laptop.

“I generally swop phones with my daughters; maybe that is how it unknowingly got downloaded on to the laptop.”

When further questioned about the content of the video, which allegedly shows him returning to the bathroom soon after the complainant leaves, he said: “I don’t know. It was such a long time ago.”

But the woman’s husband was incredulous. “I have not spoken to him about what he did but got relatives to confront him. He initially denied filming the video but days later told our uncle he did it. He said he suspected his 20-year-old stepdaughter was smoking and wanted to catch her on camera.”

The husband said he wanted to “expose the truth”.

On Monday evening his wife, who works at a call centre, went to the Verulam police station.

According to her husband, the incident happened about 10 months ago, when his wife was four months pregnant.

“Verulam has water shortage problems, so on that particular day my family and I went for an aunt’s home, where the man and his family stayed, to bath. I used the bathroom facilities downstairs and my wife used the one upstairs. We then spent the afternoon at their house.

“Then, some time later, during a birthday party in Ottawa, I asked this relative if he would clear my memory stick and download the music he had on his laptop, as he was thinking of going home. He was drunk at the time and did as I asked.”

The husband said the relative opted to remain at the party and the music continued to be played off his laptop.

“Earlier this month I was clearing the memory stick once again, to add new music, when I saw this video and decided to play it. At first I did not know what I was watching as the quality was poor.

“It was only when I watched it for the second time, that I realised the woman having a bath was my pregnant wife,” he said.

“It showed him setting up and adjusting the camera, in either a toilet roll holder or a container, for about four minutes. He then walked out, and three minutes later, my wife walked in. She undressed, filled the tub with water and got in.

“She then comes out and wipes herself. You can see she is naked. She was there for about eight minutes before leaving. Thirty seconds later, he comes in, removes the camera and leaves.”

He added: “My wife cannot accept calls while at work, so I had to wait for her to return home that evening to tell her. Like me, she was also shocked and felt violated.”

He said he called his other relatives, who lived in the same house as the man: “They came to my home and watched the video. They said they would speak to him but he denied filming it. They told me that while they questioned him, he cried and perspired. He even asked to watch the video.”

He said he had chosen not to confront him, “as there would have been a heated argument and I could have ended up in jail”.

Police spokesman Major Thulani Zwane confirmed that a case of crimen injuria had been opened.

“The complainant alleged her husband showed her a video of her taking a shower in her husband’s aunt’s house. She noticed that the video was taken during the month of September, 2014. It is alleged the suspect set up the camera without the victim’s consent.”

Zwane said no one had been arrested.”

Mbulelo Mrwata, the online monitor at the Film and Publication Board, told POST: “The woman involved can report the incident to the police and to us and we will monitor the case.

“Because the video was not mass circulated, we can only provide this oversight service. But the incident itself is a violation of her rights to privacy.”