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Two sisters were allegedly raped by uniformed police on the same night in two different places. Photo: Paballo Thekiso
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Two Sandton police officers accused of raping a highly intoxicated woman on Witkoppen Road were released on bail in the Alexandra Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday.
Without showing any emotion, the pair made their way down the stairs leading to the police holding cells soon after magistrate Syta Prinsloo released them on bail of R2 000 each.
Prinsloo said she had taken into account the fact that a police tracking device indicated that the vehicle used by the officers on the night the offence was committed had been nowhere near the scene when the 27-year-old Fourways woman was raped.
“According to the movement report, there’s no confirmation that it was the accused who committed the crime.
“If I look at the road map, they are further away from where the incident took place,” said Prinsloo.
She also slammed the State for failing to hold an identity parade, which would have given the rape victim a chance to point out the police officers who had attacked her on the night of Friday, December 2.
“This court is of the opinion that the State, in regard to the identity, does not have a strong case, especially with failure to have an identity parade,” said Prinsloo, adding that there were no exceptional circumstances for her to deny bail.
The two officers, aged 28 and 43, admitted in affidavits that they had followed a silver BMW to a residential complex in Paulshof after it had passed them at high speed on Witkoppen Road.
They had noticed that the driver was so intoxicated, she could barely stand up straight.
She was accompanied by her equally drunk 24-year-old sister, who she was dropping at home after a party.
Speaking through their lawyers, the officers said they had searched the car and advised the driver to sleep at her sister’s place as she was in no condition to drive.
They had then left and continued with their patrol duties.
The State’s case is that after dropping off her sister in Paulshof, the woman was again stopped by the two officers on Witkoppen Road.
They allegedly took turns raping her on the back seat of her car. However, an investigating officer told the court under cross-examination on Wednesday that the tracking device did not place the officers at the scene.
It was on this basis, and the fact that an identity parade was never held for the raped woman to point out her attackers, that Prinsloo released the officers on bail.
The decision left Women and Men Against Child Abuse worried that the real perpetrators could still be prowling the streets of Joburg disguised as law enforcement officers.
Equally disappointed was lawyer Ian Levitt, who represented the woman and her sister, who was also raped the same night by attackers who have yet to be arrested.
“They are fearful, scared… Police will be back at work today, patrolling the streets with their guns… That speaks for itself,” said Levitt.
However, he said, he respected the court’s decision and hoped a proper investigation would take place.
He said the fact that a rape had taken place by police officers was not in dispute by either the State or the defence. – The Star
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Sandton cops get bail in rape trial