UPDATE: East residents demand arrest of ‘gang rapists’
The victim was allegedly gang-raped by more than four men well known to the community.
Mamelodi residents have expressed their frustration over what they call poor service by the local police.
Residents said a 39-year-old woman was gang raped in Mamelodi West at the weekend yet despite the perpetrators being known, nobody had been arrested.
On Wednesday, the residents, led by the ANC Women’s League marched to the police station in protest.
They demanded to know why the suspects were still roaming the streets free.
ANC Women’s League ward 18 leader Lizzy Dlamini said the victim had asked for a lift home from a group of about five men outside local tavern she’s been partying at on Saturday night.
ALSO READ: Mamelodi women see red over tavern gang rape
Dlamini said the woman could not remember what happened thereafter until she came to the next morning in a house in Mamelodi East.
She said however, the men had admitted to sleeping with the woman to locals and used condoms had been found on the scene of the alleged rape and handed to the police as evidence.
“The police were supposed to arrest the suspects when the residents alerted them to the incident on Sunday,” she said adding the residents were unhappy.
“One of the suspects is related to an officer at the station.
The officer took the suspects to the police station but they were not arrested neither was a case opened.”
The victim has been in hospital since Sunday.
Dlamini said the police had failed the community they were supposed to serve.
She said one of the suspects was a caretaker at a nearby school yet had a criminal record.
The residents demanded he be removed from this position with immediate effect “for the safety of children”.
ALSO READ: GUIDE: Rape statistics in South Africa
Later the EFF joined the protest to demand that the police take their job seriously.
Ward 40 EFF chairperson Bennet Matsekoleng demanded that the police officer suspected of protecting his relative be arrested too.
Provincial police spokesperson Colonel Lungelo Dlamini said a complaint of rape was followed up.
“The members of the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences went to the hospital where they did the initial investigation and got the assistance from the hospital but could not obtain verbal evidence from the victim.
“She could not be interviewed due to her physical condition,” said Dlamini.
The witnesses will be interviewed.
He said the statement from the victim was yet to be obtained hence the police could not arrest anybody.
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