COMMENT

"SA's angriest woman! I opened a child rape case... and cops beat me up!" - Daily Sun

The front page and lead story of South Africa's largest daily newspaper, March 5 2014

Daily Sun (March 5 2014) - PRUDENCE Dhlomo never expected to be beaten at a cop shop. Cops were refusing to help a relative open a child rape case, she said.

AND WHEN SHE TOOK A PICTURE OF THE UNWILLING COP . . . ANOTHER COP MOERED HER!

Prudence (50) told Daily Sun her relative was trying to open a case after her eight-year-old daughter was raped on Sunday.

"I rushed to the police station when my relative called to say cops were refusing to help her," said Prudence.

"When I got there, a cop insisted they wouldn't open a case. They said my relative told them the girl said the suspect had been raping her since last year. They wanted evidence of that.

"They should have explained to us what we needed to do - take the girl to the doctor to see if she was raped or not - instead of asking us for evidence," she said angrily.

Prudence said she then called her cousin, Health MEC Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo.

"Sibongiseni advised me to call their boss. I called the head of detectives, informing him about the cops' attitude," said Prudence, of KwaMakhutha township.

She said the head of detectives called the charge office and told the cops to assist them to open a case.

"While cops were reluctantly taking statements from my relative, I tried to steal a picture of the police who had refused to open a case for us.

"Another cop suddenly came and asked me what was I going to do with the picture. I told him that I wanted to open a case against the cop who had treated us badly.

"They forced me to delete the picture.

"Another cop appeared from nowhere and beat me up in front of the people at the charge office," said Prudence.

She said she was humiliated and wants the cop who beat her to be arrested.

"I later went to Amanzimtoti police station to open a case of assault," said Prudence.

"He had already deleted the picture in my phone. There was no need to beat me up. My face is swollen," said Prudence.

She said the relative's daughter was admitted to Prince Mshiyeni Hospital.

Captain Thulani Zwane said KwaMakhutha cops were investigating a rape case and Amanzimtoti cops were investigating a case of common assault and crimen injuria.

 See the Daily Sun mobi site for more on this and other stories....

 

The Daily Sun is South Africa's largest daily newspaper with an average circulation of 297,614 (Audit Bureau of Circulations 4th Quarter 2013) and a readership of 5.7m (as per AMPS 2012ab). Its Facebook page can be accessed here. It can be followed on Twitter here. To find about advertising on the Daily Sun click here.

Issued through the Politicsweb iService