Criminal justice system fails three-year-old rape victim: AfriForum prosecutes
18 October 2018
AfriForum today announced at a media conference that Adv. Gerrie Nel, Head of the civil rights organisation’s Private Prosecution Unit, will privately prosecute a man who had raped his three-year-old granddaughter. Private prosecution is instituted because the criminal justice system failed the girl.
The rape and/or sexual assault happened in the home of the victim’s grandparents. The grandfather (the accused) is a successful and respected businessman in the financial sector.
The victim reported the rape and assault to her mother and father, and a psychologist confirmed the sexual offences in a psycho-legal assessment. The victim also identified her grandfather as the perpetrator to her teacher.
“When the applicant first approached our office and told us the facts, we were astonished that the police had failed to take a statement from the important independent witnesses: that is the school teacher and the psychologist. We were also astonished that detectives had not taken steps to secure cell phone evidence. In fact, the South African Police Service (SAPS) closed the docket after a month,” Nel states.