Union appalled by teen’s rape, death

File image - A rape evidence kit. Photo: Andrew Ingram

File image - A rape evidence kit. Photo: Andrew Ingram

Published Feb 7, 2013

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Cape Town - Nurses' union Denosa said on Thursday it was appalled by the killing of a Western Cape teenager and hoped those responsible would face the full might of the law.

A harsh sentence would indicate such “barbaric behaviour” would not be tolerated, the Democratic Nursing Organisation of SA's head of gender structure Thembeka Msibi said in a statement.

“And similar gang-related cases where victims are killed are on the rise.”

Msibi said it made matters even worse that the crime took place shortly after the 16 Days of activism campaign.

Security guards founds Anene Booysen, 17, in an industrial area of Bredasdorp, in the Southern Cape, on the weekend. She had been gang-raped and mutilated.

A hospital source reportedly said Booysen's injuries were too horrific to describe. She died on Saturday evening.

According to media reports, Booysen managed to identify her attackers before she died in hospital.

Her 22-year-old ex-boyfriend was arrested in connection with the crime. He appeared in the Bredasdorp Magistrate's Court on Tuesday on charges of rape and murder. He would appear again on February 12.

A second man, aged 21, was arrested in Bredasdorp on Wednesday night.

Congress of the People MP Beryl Ferguson said the party was horrified that South Africa had become the rape centre of the world.

“This means that the department of women, children and people with disabilities, as well as the police and communities, have shown a total inability to deal with this problem in a decisive manner.”

The government expressed shock and outrage at the crime.

“They must face the full wrath of the law... those who molest and abuse children have no place in a democratic South Africa,” Government Communication and Information Systems acting CEO, Phumla Williams said. - Sapa

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