Model Lerato Moloi has addressed rape allegations she has made against comedian Tol Ass Mo.
The model and actress has accused the comedian, whose real name is Mongezi Mahlangu, of sexual assault and rape which she said happened while they worked on a production together.
In a statement released through her lawyers, Lerato said that she will not be silenced.
“For many years, I have been battling to find the courage and support to speak up against a number of acts of violence which have happened to me.
“In 2014, I was sexually assaulted and raped by Mongezi 'Tol Ass Mo' Mahlangu while working on a television production in Paarl, Western Cape.
“For numerous reasons, I did not open a case at the time and only shared this experience with one of the other participants on the show”, she said in the statement.
The star said that the assault had left her with immeasurable emotional scars for the past 6 years.
She said that after she shared bits of the experience on social media, she was met with attempts to silence her.
In the statement, she said: "In the past two month’s I have been served with letters from his attorneys to remove my tweets.
“A protection order was then applied for against me along with an interim order demanding that I delete my tweets and effectively attempting to silence me just after I found my voice to speak about my experiences.
“This culminated in an arrest warrant being issued against me and my subsequent imprisonment."
Lerato thanked everyone who has supported her and encouraged her and ended the statement by saying “the days of silence are over”.
Hope Lerato Moloi gets the justice she so well deserved. This is so sad pic.twitter.com/Y24RLVNCPL
— Thabang Phetla (@tarantular) August 22, 2020
Since these allegations came to light, Tol Ass Mo’s wife, Mome Mahlangu, has spoken out and defended her husband on Instagram.
BET Africa also pulled a planned interviewed on “Behind The Story with Pearl Thusi” following social media outrage over the allegations.