Durban -
Durban author Zainub Priya Dala has denied staging her attack as a ploy to generate book sales.
“People are trying to turn a victim into a perpetrator. I am hurt by the allegations levelled against me especially when they attack my character.
“If there is anyone who believes I staged the attack, they are welcome to investigate the incident to establish whether I lied or not,” she said.
As a result of the attack, the 40-year-old cancelled the launch of her first novel, What About Meera, and removed copies of her book from leading Durban bookstores.
Dala said she had been attacked by three men in Overport last Wednesday. She was returning from a panel discussion during the Time of The Writer Festival when she was allegedly followed by a white vehicle.
The incident is believed to have stemmed from a forum held at the Chatsworth Early Learning Centre on Tuesday after she expressed her admiration for Salman Rushdie’s writing style.
After the attack, the author said she had been sent hate speech on social media where users claimed she was behaving in an “unIslamic manner” and threatened to “stone her”.
One of the users named @MuslimFarzana tweeted that Dala engaged in an extramarital affair with a theatre actor and drank alcohol.
One tweet read: “@zpdala Stoning punish adulterer haraam alcohol.”
These were allegations Dala firmly denied.
Police spokesman Major Thulani Zwane said the matter was still under investigation, and no conclusions would be drawn until it was over.
The Jamiatul Ulama, the council of Muslim theologians, condemned the attack.
Sunday Tribune