Cape Town - After years of living with pain and trauma, a woman from Atlantis is calling for justice as her alleged rapist is about to be sentenced.
The now 31-year-old woman was 6 years old when the incident happened.
Speaking to IOL, she said the perpetrator had been friends with her parents and at the time lived only two doors away.
“One year, we had Sunday or Christmas lunch at their place when the seats were too few and he, offered for me to sit on his lap. He started rubbing on my legs inappropriately, but at the time I was not aware of what was happening, as I was young,” she said.
“At a later stage, he started touching me more and more, until it got to the point where he was molesting me.”
The young woman said her parents would let her sleep over at her abuser’s house, as she was friends with his daughter, who was a few years older than she was.
“He would always ask my mother if I could sleep (over) with his daughter. At night, when everyone was sleeping, he would wake me up and take me to the living room, where he would get off on touching me and would have me touch him,” she told IOL.
The woman further stated that every day after school the accused would come home during his lunch hour and make her watch pornography.
“Both my parents were at work at the time, and my siblings would be busy with their own things. Those afternoons, he would put on porn movies for us to watch, and he would start touching me and lick my private parts and expect me to lick his (private parts) as well,” she recalled.
“Of course, I said no, and he would then have me just kiss it and play with it until he ejaculated. He did this every chance he got until I was 13 years old.”
When she became a teenager, she started withdrawing from the accused’s daughter.
“I tried to stop sleeping there. When I slept there, he would try to wake me up, but I’d move around the whole time, which made his daughter move. He would get worried and go back to bed,” she said.
At high school, another friend confided in her about her own ordeal, and this was when she felt empowered enough to speak out about what she had experienced.
“We decided together to go to our teacher and tell her everything. She was obligated to inform the principal, who then opened a case at the police station,” she said.
“I was about 14 or 15 years old when the case was made. Today, I am 31 years old, and I am still awaiting a final outcome.”
The accused was arrested at the time, but the matter was struck from the Atlantis Magistrate’s Court roll.
This was confirmed by the National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson in the Western Cape, Eric Ntabazalila.
“The case was previously removed from the roll when the complainant did not come to court.
“The accused was then subpoenaed to appear, and that’s why he is on warning.
“The charges were rape and indecent assault,” Ntabazalila said.
The woman said witnesses had been called to rubbish her claims about the abuse that had occurred when she slept over at her alleged abuser’s home, and she had been trashed for being promiscuous and a “taxi queen” (someone who has sex with taxi drivers) during the time of the assaults (from age 6 until 13).
She told IOL the traumatic experience had made her lose all faith in men, and she now proudly identified as a lesbian.
“Because of the scars he left, because of the insecurities he left me with, I for sure do not see myself with a man. I do not trust men in general. I have had intimacy issues and only started letting go of some of these about five years ago.
“I felt like crap. Everyone was looking at me as if I was wrong. Besides my family, I had no support from anyone else,” she said.
The young woman said the case had turned her world upside down and, with the accused out on warning, he would intimidate her by slowly driving past her and smiling.
Her family had to be moved to another congregation because he was a priest in her church.
“He and his wife would look at me and smile as if they were rejoicing in the fact that he has never been locked up. It has been hard. I moved away from home at an early age because they lived only two doors away,” she said.
After the matter was placed back on the court roll, the accused was charged with rape and indecent assault. However, he was found guilty only on the indecent assault charge.
He was acquitted on the rape charge.
“The charges were rape and indecent assault, but was only found guilty on the indecent assault charge,” Ntabazalila said.
The complainant is now calling for justice to prevail and her perpetrator to be given jail time.
“I want jail time for everything I had to go through – the emotional damage and the effect it had (on me).
“Outside punishment will not be enough for me, even though it seems that is what the outcome will be. This age thing and first-time offenders shit will count in his favour. But where does it leave me?
“What message are we sending other victims? Are we sending out a message that coming forward benefits no one at all?
“We are supposed to paint the picture that perpetrators don't get a slap on the wrist, but I honestly don't know how we can help and get others to come forward with our justice system,” she added.