MEN taking random videos of young girls in public should think twice as they could face criminal consequences if the footage is proven to cause impending harm.
This comes after an Empangeni mother spotted an unknown man filming her 11-year-old daughter in the parking lot as they walked out of the Game Shopping Centre on Sunday morning.
The man, reportedly sitting on a pole at the entrance of the store, used his cellphone to film the young girl at about 10am.
‘I was walking behind my daughter and noticed his actions. I walked up to him and asked him what he was doing and who gave him the right to film my daughter. He did not respond. I then deleted my daughter’s video off his phone,’ said the irate mother.’
She said it was a ‘scary thought’ to explore the possible motives behind the video.
‘You don’t think that random men would be videoing your young daughter. Who is to say that there is no target on your daughter? What if the video footage is used in a syndicate to kidnap girls?’ the mother told the Zululand Observer.
Richards Bay police spokesperson, Captain Debbie Ferreira, said it was not a crime to film or take photographs in public unless one could prove that there was intent for it to be used criminally or for pornographic purposes.
‘It would be advisable to approach the person if you have seen the footage and ask them to delete it. However, one cannot physically threaten them or remove the phone from them,’ said Ferreira.
Harassment
Local attorney, Yolanda Gielink of Gielink Attorneys said the Protection from Harassment Act 17 of 2011 did provide some relief in these instances.
‘Harassment means directly or indirectly engaging in conduct that the perpetrator knows or ought to know causes harm or inspires the reasonable belief that harm may be caused to the complainant. Watching and following the child while filming her inspires reasonable belief that harm may be caused in light of child trafficking being rife,’ said Gielink.
However, she said people could not take the law into their own hands.
‘Seeing somebody taking a video of you will not entitle you to take the equipment from the perpetrator. The relief the Act gives is in form of a Protection Order against the perpetrator through the court. As such, the complainant can contact the SAPS to come to the scene,’ Gielink said.
