Cape Town – Civil rights groups Triangle Project, Philisa Abafazi Bethu and One Billion Rising SA demonstrated outside the Ceres Magistrate’s Court when the trial of three rape accused resumed yesterday.
They were there to show support for “M”, who had detailed while testifying in camera how he was allegedly raped and kidnapped by Rodney
Beukes, Austin Fritz and Peter John Adams. “M” believed the attack was because he was gay. The case has been in court for about two years.
“M” previously said he was motivated to tell his story to the courts out of fear that he would become the next homosexual murdered in Ceres, following the killing of his friend, David Olyne, who was found tortured and murdered at a dam in Ceres in 2014. His murderer, Christo Oncke, is serving 17 years in prison for the hate crime.
Triangle Project support services manager Sharon Cox said although they were happy with the work of the investigating officer in the case, they were left disappointed when the doctor who treated “M” took the stand.
“What was glaringly obvious and so frustrating was that there is so little experience with victims of male rape in the Ceres area. The doctor had testified that he has been practising in Ceres for six years and in that time he had only ever examined three male rape victims.
"He had also conceded in court that a thorough examination of “M” was not done when he reported the case at the police station and subsequently went to hospital.
The doctor had admitted that he had not done a proper investigation, saying he had only examined the anal area. This puts back our work around getting victims to report these cases,” said Cox.
Cox said after hearing that the defence would bring an application to have the case dismissed, they were still hopeful that the trial would bring justice to “M” and other male rape victims.
“We are constantly reminded that our courts are an adversarial system, but when will our courts become
victim-centred to encourage victims to come forward?
"We can only hope that the application that will be brought by the defence does not succeed,” said Cox.
Philisa Abafazi Bethu director Lucinda Evans said: “Why is there no Thuthuzela Care Centre in Ceres? This just shows the level of how victims have been treated in the community and why victims are possibly not coming forward.”
The trial resumes on November 5.