10 February 2012
SINO MAJANGAZA
RELIVING THE TRAUMA: The mother of the three-year-old girl who was allegedly raped in Leaches Bay on Saturday. In the picture, she is speaking with her neighbour who accompanied her daughter to Fleet Street Police Station Picture: SINO MAJANGAZA
RESIDENTS of Leaches Bay have lambasted the manner in which police handled the alleged rape of a three-year-old girl at the weekend and said officers were trying to cover up their incompetence.
Eyewitnesses who approached the Daily Dispatch yesterday to give their version of events of Saturday night – where an alleged rapist was stoned to death by community members – rejected claims by police the suspect had fled by the time officers arrived on the scene.
They accused police of not carrying out their duties properly by:
• Not arresting the suspect;
• Only taking the three-year-old rape victim to hospital hours after the attack; and
• Inflaming tensions in the community by the manner in which they conducted their subsequent investigations.
An eyewitness who asked to remain anonymous said that after police were called to the scene, two officers arrived driving a white car .
“They did not even ask about the whereabouts of the suspect,” she said. “He was in his shack and now (police are) saying he was not found.
“I personally asked them why they were leaving the suspect behind and they did not respond.”
She said they thought the officers were going to call for a police van to collect the suspect.
“But it is obvious that they did not do that,” she said.
“But still they did not come. What did they expect? They are the ones who should be charged for murder,” said the woman.
Another community member who also witnessed the incident said the police had been incompetent.
“We would not be in this mess if those incompetent police officers did their job properly,” she said, adding that the statement made by police that the suspect had fled was completely inaccurate.
“There was no manhunt that was launched by the community to look for him; he was always in his shack.”
The mother of the young girl who was raped claimed she was receiving threats from relatives of three men arrested in connection with the mob justice attack on the suspected rapist.
She alleged that police had picked up her 14-year-old son for questioning and despite the fact he had given a statement denying seeing who had carried out the attack, police had arrested three men.
“I feel victimised,” she said. “My three-year-old daughter was raped, my 14-year-old is accused of pointing out the killers of the rapist and now I am receiving threats .
“They questioned my son in my absence and later they arrested people.
“Now the community has the impression that it is my son who told the police that the arrested people are the ones responsible for the killing of the suspect.”
Meanwhile, the neighbour of the three-year-old rape victim said she had accompanied the young girl, and the girl’s older sister, with police officers to Fleet Street Police Station.
She alleges they were made to wait at the station for more than two hours unattended.
“We stayed there not receiving any help"
