A 26-year-old woman who went to a local police station last week to obtain an affidavit was taken to a private office and was allegedly raped by a uniformed officer on duty.
The 44-year-old Pietermaritzburg policeman was later arrested and charged with the rape.
Director of KwaZulu-Natal Network on Violence Against Women Cookie Edwards said the incident was outrageous.
“When your protector becomes your oppressor then who do you turn to?” she asked, pointing out that the incident had occurred on the back of National Women’s Month.
Edwards said she hopes the officer will be suspended until a verdict is reached and that the National Prosecuting Authority will expedite the process so that the survivor does not have to “wait for years to get justice”.
The woman was at the Pietermaritzburg Police Station last Thursday, waiting in line for an affidavit, when she was summoned to the office by the suspect, who then allegedly raped her.
Too afraid to report what had happened there to the suspects’ colleagues, she fled home and told her family about her ordeal.
They then took her to Mountain Rise Police Station to open a rape charge against the police officer.
Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) spokesperson Phaladi Shuping confirmed that the unit was investigating the charge against the officer.
According to Ipid, the officer allegedly asked her to wait in the office and went to fetch an affidavit. He then came back, completed the affidavit, and then allegedly made advances on the woman.
Following the rejection of his advances, Shuping said, “The police officer allegedly locked the door, removed his service pistol, placed it on the table, and raped the complainant”.
The officer, who cannot be named until asked to plead in court, appeared briefly at the Pietermaritzburg Magistrate’s Court on Monday.
He was arrested last Thursday by detectives from Plessislaer Police Station and remained in custody until his court appearance, when he was granted R5000 bail.
He is due to return to court on October 11.
Part of his bail conditions include not making contact with the victim or any witness; not to reside at any other address besides the one provided to the court; and not to access the SAPS Crime Administration System (CAS) — or to get a third party to access the system — to view the particulars of the case.
Edwards said that it was concerning that the accused was granted bail.
As a women’s rights organisation, we oppose bail. Granting bail implies that the case is not considered serious.
Edwards added that granting bail also put the survivor’s safety at risk, “especially in this case where a SAPS member is the accused”.
Gender activists said this latest incident spoke to a wider issue of gender-based violence continuing to be rampant, despite it being Women’s Month.
Mountain Rise community policing forum (CPF) reported an increase in GBV cases this month.
CPF chairperson Sham Govender told The Witness that the precinct has been averaging three to four GBV cases a week and that most of incidents were reported between Friday and Sunday night.
Dr Kelley Moult, an associate professor of criminology at the University of Cape Town, said it was difficult to pinpoint the direct cause of an increase in cases, but there were many pertinent considerations.
Raising awareness impacts reporting. One of the benefits of high-profile ‘events’ like Women’s Month is that it raises the profile of the problem and provides information about the problem to the community.
She said that through events, radio segments, and media reports, an individual can come to an understanding that what they might be experiencing meets the criteria for gender-based violence.
Such exposure, Moult said, informs people that there is help and support available and assists in linking victims with services that are available in their communities.
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