Is death penalty the solution?
8 March 2008, 12:49
Arrests made in Hillcrest gang rape 21-year-old gang-raped
By Fiona Gounden and Sapa
More than a thousand infuriated protesters on Friday bayed for the blood of five men who allegedly gang-raped a 21-year-old Durban woman last Sunday.
At massive placard demonstrations at the Pinetown Magistrate's Court and the Hillcrest police station yesterday, threats were shouted over loudhailers in Zulu that the men would be killed and one young man said: "Give the rapists to us. If they can get through alive, they can walk free."
Meanwhile, women's organisations are horrified by "the shoddy treatment" given to Jessica Foord by a Pinetown district surgeon, and claim this is a "common occurrence in Durban and district surgeons need a wake-up call".
Department of Health spokesperson Leon Mbangwa said intense investigations were under way into the conduct of the district surgeon.
"Our full-scale investigation will reveal the exact circumstances of the incident. We will then decide on what action to take."
Foord, who was raped last Sunday at Shongweni, while her father, Tim, was held at gunpoint and then tied to a tree, said the rape was terrible but the "entire experience afterwards was awful" as the district surgeon was "rude and rough and told her to stop complaining".
She felt as though it was an inconvenience to him.
Foord claimed the room was dingy with dirty cotton swabs on the floor.
Showing their disgust at the rape, about 1 200 vociferous people first gathered at the magistrate's court for the appearance of the five suspects and blocked the roads to the court with vehicles. People shouted their frustration and anger into a loudhailer.
One young woman said: "The only way is the death penalty, these are animals."
A lady who spoke in Zulu said: "You rape, you die, there's no way out."
After discovering the suspects had already appeared in court on Thursday and were refused bail, the convoy of more than 400 vehicles made its way to the Hillcrest police station where the five men were being held.
Police spokesperson Superintendent Danelia Veldhuizen confirmed that the five men appeared in court on Thursday and were refused bail. She confirmed that two attackers were still on the loose.
In Hillcrest men and women from all races and age groups held posters saying "No bail for rapists", "Enough is enough" and "Bring back the death penalty".
There were huge traffic jams for up to three hours in the area surrounding the police station and the court. At one point police attempted to arrest a protester outside the police station and the crowd then surrounded the officer and requested that they all be arrested.
"Arrest us all, arrest us all... same as the rapists... so point your guns at the rapists," the growing crowd shouted.
Foord's boyfriend, her family and relatives were also at the scene.
One of the protesters, Janine Waters, said: "The family is really upset... They were not aware that the five accused appeared in court yesterday (Thursday) because police had said they would appear today (Friday)... They had no right to keep this information from the family because they wanted to be at the hearing."
Several protesters and one police officer on the scene said a loudhailer was used to tell the five accused in Zulu that they would be killed.
Some protesters carried posters reading "No bail for rapists" and "Slow death for rapists".
Motorists and taxi drivers hooted in support of the protesters.
There was a heavy police presence monitoring the protest, but there were no immediate reports of damage or arrests.
dailynews.co.za |
