EACH time one of the three was done raping her, they took her underwear to wipe her and then the next took his turn.
And that is the memory a single mother (25) is trying to forget. “I always thought it will never happen to me,” she told the RECORD after she survived being raped by three men on October 31.
She was on her way from her house in Brackendowns to work in Steeldale, when her car overheated in Paul Kruger Street, Alberton. “I stopped my vehicle to send a drop pin to my mother, to tell her that I was fine at 08:02. Three men helped me by throwing water in my car and they got it to start again. They were very nice and helpful. Afterwards, they got in my car and I thought they just needed a lift.
“So while driving, I kept asking them where I must drop them off. They didn’t answer and one of them laughed,” said the victim.
When she realised she was in danger, she reached for her phone but then they pulled out guns and took her phone. She remembers they told her where to go and soon realised she was in an industrial area.
“They made me drive to a mine dump in Roscherville, where they drugged me. This drug made me go in and out of a state of consciousness and I do have some blank spots. All three of them raped me and cleaned me with my own underwear – every time one was done. I just told myself that I won’t die without a fight. I kicked them and I made is difficult, but they were winning.”
They kicked her, punched her breaking one of her teeth and scratched her.
“The next moment, I heard the one said: ‘cops, cops’. Everything was blank and when I woke up, they were gone. I managed to crawl my way to my car and drove to my friend’s house,” she said.
The three men only stole her underwear and ate all of her food in her car.
This happened a day before the body of Ane Jacobs (16) was found, near the football club in Alberton.
The victim was taken to Mulbarton Hospital after the incident that morning – and was only helped at 14:30. She tells the RECORD how the family struggled to get the police there and when they got there, they took the victim to where she was raped to get evidence. “I remember they were fighting about who was going to take my case. Eventually Alberton SAPS took my statement, but they let me sit in a room full of handcuffed criminals. They didn’t allow my mother to come in with me.”
The victim was hospitalised a week later, with bleeding ulcers and for stress. The victim described the men as average African men, with the accent of a coloured man.
“The strange thing is that I have pepper spray, a knife and a tazer in my car, but each time I thought of defending myself, I remembered my daughter at home – I couldn’t risk being killed. And the same thought – my daughter waiting for me – stopped me from trying to jump out of the moving car, or causing an accident.
“It happened so fast. I battle every day. People always say be safe at night, but this happened during the day and where I got raped, people could see me and the men,” she said.
“They showed no remorse.”
Her message for women to avoid becoming rape victims is to: be aware, don’t be trusting; and always let people know where you are. With the help of her psychologist, psychiatrist, her family and friends, she’s managing to get through this. She also wanted to thank her employers, Hudaco Group, for all their help. “They’ve been so good and supportive.
“The police showed no sympathy and I haven’t heard anything from them so far. The three men who raped me are still out there.”
This mother with dark long hair and brown eyes, sat there with all these mixed emotions – but when she spoke, you could hear that she’s a warrior.
“If it wasn’t for my little girl, I would have tried to commit suicide. No words can describe what I went through.
“If you are a victim of rape, just know that you don’t have to be scared. Be angry and be sad; don’t keep your emotions for yourself. And know that you’re stronger than the situation,” she added.
The RECORD is still waiting for comment from Alberton and Moffatview SAPS.
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