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 Rapist increases 'blood money' offer
    Lyse Comins
    October 06 2009 at 11:27AM 		Get IOL on your
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The rapist of a young Durban woman who was attacked while working as an English teacher in South Korea has quadrupled his offer of "blood money".

But Melissa Brouard, 23, a University of KwaZulu-Natal graduate who fled home in August, is steadfastly refusing the money. Initially she was offered R32 000, now it is about R120 000.

She wants the law in South Korea changed, to increase the maximum penalty of four years' imprisonment.

Brouard said she felt that the South Korean justice system, which provided for lesser sentences where "blood money" was offered to victims, favoured rapists. First-time offenders there can be sentenced to as little as 18 months in jail.
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Rapist had shown no visible signs of remorse
Brouard is angry and traumatised after the attack which cut short her happy stay in Korea.

She said a friend who had travelled for 10 hours by bus from Seoul to Ulsan to attend the court case, told her that the rapist had shown no visible signs of remorse.

"He has offered me roughly R120 000. The rights of the rapist increased because he offered me more money and he has showed no remorse."

She said the rapist lived across the car park from her flat in one of four blocks of flats in the complex.

He had been watching her through binoculars from his flat for weeks, before he climbed into her tenth floor flat through the laundry window one night while she was sleeping.

'There is such injustice in the legal system'
He had handcuffed her before raping her. She had begged him not to kill her.

Brouard praised the swift work of police who arrested him six days later after tracking him on CCTV footage.

The rapist has now appeared briefly in court in Ulsan where he pleaded guilty to the rape and offered Brouard R120 000 "blood money" for the crime.

Brouard, a virgin before the attack, said she was determined to do everything in her power to lobby for the laws in that country to be changed and for the maximum four year sentence to be increased to at least 20 years.

"He took so much away from me. I was happy in my job. I am really angry that this can be brushed over and seen as not a big deal.

"I realise that this happens every minute in South Africa and I am not trying to say that my case is special, but the justice system (in South Korea) is very sympathetic to him.

"If people can't get a lawyer the case is just shoved under the table. This guy has been caught and has admitted to it. He originally got a really good lawyer but he realised his chances of getting him off were very slim so he passed it on to a younger lawyer," she said.

Back home, Brouard said she had managed to find a job and although she was fine during the day she battled to sleep at night and was traumatised by small things like spotting a policeman's handcuffs on his belt and seeing Asian men on television, which reminded her of the attacker.

"Obviously, I want him to get the maximum sentence but if four years is the maximum sentence that is shocking. He needs to go to jail for at least 20 years. He admitted to a sexual crime and he stalked me.

"He must be taken off the streets," Brouard said.

"He walked in there as if he was going to see friends for coffee.

"It feels like the rapist has more rights than me. There is such injustice in the legal system.

"If I take the money he gets a lesser sentence and if I don't take the money he gets a lesser sentence," Brouard said.

She said her lawyer had advised her that in South Korea "the rights of a man's violence are summarised by the money he can pay" - meaning that men who assaulted women could get away with a lenient penalty to the degree that they could afford to pay blood money as they had shown themselves to be a "good sport".

Brouard is now trying to obtain a letter from the Minister of Women, Youth, Children and People with Disabilities, Noluthando Mayende-Sibiya, and the South African Embassy, which she wants to file with the Korean court to indicate to that there is international interest in the case.

    • This article was originally published on page 1 of Daily News on October 06, 2009
Showing page 1 of 3 comment pages, 26 total comments
6 Weeks ago I wil get him!! wrote :
hey Melissa sweety I am a guy in South korea and from durban and also went to University of KwaZulu Natal.Take the money sweety.Though I am not queer,i will rape him!!!dammit!
6 Weeks ago St.Peter. wrote :
Melissa, Ignore the idiots talking about revenge and bounty. Otherwise, it'll boomerang and you'll be charged. Take the money if you wish and move on with your young life. As they say, "Living well is the best revenge".
6 Weeks ago Anonymous wrote :
So brave. nina. x
6 Weeks ago one who cares wrote :
Dear dear Melissa What you endured was beyond compare but you are alive.Whether you take the money or not.Nothing will change.The hurt will still be there.He still raped you and no amount of money can change that.Make up your own mind as to what you want to do.I do suggest councilling to help you deal with this terrible hurt Also know this.You will not change SK.They have their own laws.You can try but you really are wasting your time. Get some help and try to live beyond what has been done to you.I wish you all the very best.
6 Weeks ago gugu wrote :
This lady must just take the blood money and continue with her life and go for more counselling and spoil herself with some of the 120k, the campaining she is doing is going to add to her pain and it is going to be a lifetime mission to try to change the constitution of a foreign land.
6 Weeks ago Anonymous wrote :
Take the money and get sombody to rape him
6 Weeks ago Anonymous wrote :
You are to be commended for looking further than your own pain. The fact that you are seeking a change in the law, which will benefit other victims in future is really noble. Praying that you will succeed and that you will be healed emotionally by the change you bring about
6 Weeks ago rbgguy wrote :
goodluck changing SK's justice system. Hers wasn't the first rape... I would take the money and pay someone to teach him a lesson.
6 Weeks ago ChildofGod wrote :
4, 20, 50 years will make you feel better only for a while. Deep down you are still the same person you were before the rape. Your healing process has nothing to do with the guy. Take the money, change someone's life, adopt, do whatever is fruitful to you. Healing you will. How long is entirely upon your choice (wise or not). You are still a teacher. You make a difference in people's lives. Don't stop. God loves you and will fully restore you. Trust in Him.
6 Weeks ago Anonymous wrote :
this is bull, how can money buy life. is this not the country where they say if you steal, your hands will be cut off, why don't they cut off his d***.

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