Horrific racist gang rape
RealityofSA | 12.04.2002 01:26
The 14-year old Afrikaner girl who was cruelly raped this week by a gang of five blacks in her parental home in Pretoria, has been traumatised for the rest of her life. This was said by Rev. Barbara Louw of the organisation Inter-Trauma Nexus (ITN) this week.
The organisation provides psychological counselling to the family and to the SA Policemen who also had to receive urgent psychiatric counselling after investigating the crime scene Tuesday. Hundreds of irate South Africans have been flooding the news media ever since with angry accusations that this crime had been a deliberately racist attack to terrorise the entire Afrikaner community.
The child was discharged from a Pretoria hospital after her cruel ordeal, during which she was gang-raped by five men in the bathroom of her parental home.
"It is terrible what happened to this girl. Her virginity was cruelly destroyed and at the age of 14, a person still seeks for one's identity," said rev. Louw. The police yesterday drew up identikit pictures of the five suspects, and these are being released today, said Insp. Gideon Thessner, police spokesman in Pretoria.
Irate callers to the Afrikaans newspaper Beeld said this rape and the attack on this entire Afrikaner family is a cruel, barbaric attack against a family who belongs to a specific group in society. It was a deliberately racist attack," one reader told Beeld.
The five rapists gained access to the house by climbing across a 2-meter high wall and tearing out the burglar bars in a window of the house. The heavily-armed men invaded the house, tied up the mother, father, six-year-old sister and ten-year-old brother with barbed wire in the living room. They then took the 14-year-old Afrikaans girl into the bathroom where they gangraped her.After this, the girl's father was beaten and kicked in his face while still tied up.
The gang then ransacked the family home and fled with the family car, which was later found abandoned in nearby Tembisa.
Thessner said the badly traumatised family has immediate out of the home and moved in with family in Pretoria.
The police unit for child protection and sexual offences is investigating the crime.
The organisation provides psychological counselling to the family and to the SA Policemen who also had to receive urgent psychiatric counselling after investigating the crime scene Tuesday. Hundreds of irate South Africans have been flooding the news media ever since with angry accusations that this crime had been a deliberately racist attack to terrorise the entire Afrikaner community.
The child was discharged from a Pretoria hospital after her cruel ordeal, during which she was gang-raped by five men in the bathroom of her parental home.
"It is terrible what happened to this girl. Her virginity was cruelly destroyed and at the age of 14, a person still seeks for one's identity," said rev. Louw. The police yesterday drew up identikit pictures of the five suspects, and these are being released today, said Insp. Gideon Thessner, police spokesman in Pretoria.
Irate callers to the Afrikaans newspaper Beeld said this rape and the attack on this entire Afrikaner family is a cruel, barbaric attack against a family who belongs to a specific group in society. It was a deliberately racist attack," one reader told Beeld.
The five rapists gained access to the house by climbing across a 2-meter high wall and tearing out the burglar bars in a window of the house. The heavily-armed men invaded the house, tied up the mother, father, six-year-old sister and ten-year-old brother with barbed wire in the living room. They then took the 14-year-old Afrikaans girl into the bathroom where they gangraped her.After this, the girl's father was beaten and kicked in his face while still tied up.
The gang then ransacked the family home and fled with the family car, which was later found abandoned in nearby Tembisa.
Thessner said the badly traumatised family has immediate out of the home and moved in with family in Pretoria.
The police unit for child protection and sexual offences is investigating the crime.
RealityofSA
Comments
Hide the following 11 comments
Most victims of crime are black
12.04.2002 08:13
One of the realities of South Africa is that it operated the racist Apartheid system for many years. Whities should not be surprised if there are some angry, racists blacks as a result. There are certainly still plenty of racist whites left!!!
Why is this story on Indymedia?
Whatis reality?
A rape every 20 seconds!!
12.04.2002 08:44
sly
*
12.04.2002 09:57
"Hundreds of irate South Africans have been flooding the news media ever since with angry accusations that this crime had been a deliberately racist attack to terrorise the entire Afrikaner community."
- What is the basis for making these generalisations? I have been attacked by black men and white men - is it always racist when they come from a different ethnic group? Or is the dynamic different?
"Irate callers to the Afrikaans newspaper Beeld said this rape and the attack on this entire Afrikaner family is a cruel, barbaric attack against a family who belongs to a specific group in society. It was a deliberately racist attack," one reader told Beeld."
- Again the facts of this case does not seem to support these generalisations. We are all members of specific communities. The fact that you identify this family as having some unique quality because they come from "a specific group" suggests you don't respect that quality in other people.
Other people have posted comments putting this incident into context. But there seem to be wider issues. Why was it posted? Clearly there is a political agenda behind the story? There is a fairly clear political agenda behind 90% of the content of this site, so that it isn't necessarily a bad thing. But the political message isn't "male violence towards women is wrong". The message is "kaffirs are savage beasts who must be kept in their place or they will rape are virgin daughters".
Others have already pointed to factual errors in this perspective. However isn't it also important that we stand up to a personal tragedy - true or false - being used to justify racist bullshit being posted on this site. It is becoming a bit too frequent and I for one think it is important to point out to these rednecks that this site is about liberation and resistance not racism.
*
Typical
12.04.2002 10:36
This is a horrible and unusual crime, and that is why it needs highlighting. BASTA.
jjf
Posted by a right winger
12.04.2002 10:45
read between the lines
correction
12.04.2002 11:12
Nevertheless, this should not prevent people from posting, on Indymedia, stories which stray from the mainstream view.
The fact that the posting leads to a discussion about the situation and the issue of black racism is, in my opinion, proof enough of the value of letting such items be posted. We are not stupid after all, and know not to take everything posted on Indymedia at face value.
Keep on posting.
jjf
yeah you've got it
12.04.2002 11:21
Previous comments are spot on. Violent crime, especially rape, is a big problem in South Africa; but it's nothing to do with race. It was just as bad under apartheid; worse, in fact, because black victims were largely ignored in those days.
If anyone wants to actually help victims, my advice would be to contact (maybe donate to?) the Rape Crisis support and campaign group in South Africa. Link here:
internationalist
Homepage:
http://www.rapecrisis.org.za
and the intent was?
12.04.2002 17:17
I've also seen stories like this posted to other forums by very right wing rascists - in fact it is quite a classic tactic.
As many others have said, all rape whether political or not is a terrible crime. In conflicts and wars it is often women and children who suffer at the hands of male soldiers, long after the main fighting has finished.
Ya basta.
Pete
GOOD OLD BOYS UNDER SEIGE AGAIN?
12.04.2002 21:48
The scare mongering story posted above is designed to propogate the White Afrikaans good old boys under seige mentality, promoting the myth that all Black men, desire White women sexually, AS IF weedy, pasty white chicks are so desirable.
maeve
Fuck of Realityof Southafrica/Frank Tipping
12.04.2002 22:04
Cleaning woman
issues
12.04.2002 22:59
culture in the way we know it is a bad thing, different cultures are bad, different races, different religions. fuck post modernism.
we have to start from scratch. destroy culture as it is now and work together and co-operate within the frame work of rationality and consideration instead of the framework of a plurality of conflicting societal values and laws.
euan