Men break into house and gang-rape couple
"They are scared of secondary victimisation, when police question them about their sexuality. The reality is that our members no longer have faith in the police,"
TEKATAKHO – A lesbian couple was gang-raped in their home after returning from the Mpumalanga Comes Alive festival on Saturday.
The perpetrators made it clear to the victims that this was corrective rape, a trend in the townships to “punish” gays and lesbians.
One of the victims described their horrific ordeal.
“We were sleeping when we heard a strange noise and started to shout for help, but our cries fell on deaf ears as nobody came to our rescue. The suspects kicked the door down and entered the house. I asked them what they wanted. They turned off the light and one of them came straight towards me and demanded to have sex with me.
When I refused, one pushed me onto the bed, undressed and started to rape me. Another one raped my girlfriend and they then took turns to rape us. I think the whole thing was planned because they used condoms. The one who was raping my girlfriend requested a condom from his friend.
“They also hurled insults at us and told us that they wanted to teach us that we are women and how it feels to be a woman,” she explained.She said she was also raped in 2013 by an unknown man.
“It’s not easy to cope, but I need to find closure because there’s nothing I can do, and I had to be strong and support my partner. This time around it is not that easy to let it go. Every time I see a group of men, I have flashbacks of the ordeal and it is not easy to hang out with my male friends,” she added.
The chairperson of the Lesbian, Gays, Bisexual and Transgender organisation (LGBT) in the Lowveld, Ms Joy Kunene, said that even though the country is under democratic rule, gays and lesbians are not yet free in the society. Many are sexually abused and keep quiet about it. They don’t bother to open a case at police stations because they are scared of secondary victimisation.
“Corrective rape is still a problem in some communities and during our gay-pride marches we encourage them to open cases so that the law can take its course.
“They are scared of secondary victimisation, when police question them about their sexuality. The reality is that our members no longer have faith in the police,” said Kunene.
Kunene concluded, “We have a provincial task team that will play a vital role in monitoring cases of corrective rape. Pending cases will be a thing of the past as we are ready and geared to restore justice to our members.”
