“When I woke up my pants and underwear were lying on the floor. And there he was, on top of me”.
These are the chilling words of a 25-year-old Langa woman who was allegedly raped by a man who is a member of the Langa Safety Patrol in the early hours of Sunday August 30.
She had been drinking with her friends at the patroller’s house when the incident occurred.
Her 30-year-old friend was woken up by her cousin who was also at the house, saying that she had seen a man emerging from under the blanket she was covering herself with.
The identities of the two women are known to Vukani but they have asked that we do not publish their names.
“I asked him what was he doing on top of me. I asked him did we have an agreement about what he was doing?” the 30-year-old woman said.
“I could feel pain in my vagina, meaning that he forced himself on me. My pants were torn, showing that he forcefully undressed me. He could not answer me. He just said that he would buy us another bottle of brandy.
“It is so sad that I was raped by someone I know and whom I regard as my father because of his age. I went to open a case with my friend and visited a clinic,” she said.
The young woman said they often visited the man’s house and did not regard him as a threat.
“I feel traumatised, really. I’m extremely hurt to be honest. And he could not answer me about what he was doing on top of me without my consent,” she said.
She said she and her friends had been drinking the whole night of Friday and the whole Saturday when they came across the man walking with someone they know. “They asked to join us and we informed them they would find us at a nearby shebeen.”
But, she said, when they arrived at the shebeen, it was about to close so they walked to the patroller’s house where they sat and drank
all night and she eventually passed out.
She passed out during the night.
The 30-year-old said after her cousin woke her, she checked herself, and while her pants were wet at the back, they did not appear to have been taken off at any point.
She tried to wake her friend, the 25-year-old, but was unable to, so she left the house around 5am.
It was about two hours later that the younger woman arrived at her friend’s house, telling her she had been raped and had reported the matter to the police.
Langa police station confirmed that a case of rape and sexual assault had been opened and
that two suspects had been arrested in connection with the two incidents.
Ward councillor Samkelo John said while he had heard about these incidents, he had initially thought they were rumours. He has now appealed for the community to support the women.