One of the victims of the attack at Kensington's Rhodes Park has accused police of ignoring her attempts to report a case of sexual assault.
Siphokazi Tyeke, who left a day after the attack for her home town of Port Elizabeth is still traumatised by the sight of a bag containing the torn clothes she wore that fateful day.
The underwear, vest and skirt she was wearing remain reminders of the gruesome evening.
Tyeke, 29, her husband Sizwe, Zukisa Kela and his fiancée Jabu Mbatha visited the park on their way back from church last Saturday when they were attacked by about 12 men. The two men were tied up and drowned in the lake. She was sexually assaulted and Mbatha raped. Both women agreed to be identified.
Tyeke said she was shocked and disappointed by the way police treated her hours after the incident . She said she also felt isolated by staff at the Hillbrow Clinic, who only examined Mbatha .
Both Mbatha and Tyeke said police have not asked them to help draw indetikits of their attackers. This despite calls made by the police to the public to help trace the killers.
She claimed the Cleveland police initially did not want to take a statement from her because she was a "witness" and not a victim.
Tyeke suffered minor bruises during the attack.
Police, however, claimed that Tyeke had denied she was either sexually violated or assaulted. Gauteng police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Lungelo Dlamini said police suspected Tyeke was sexually assaulted, but she denied it.
"Police are in the process of tracing her to obtain a further statement. It is also a criminal conduct to lie to the police about crime," he said.
Tyeke said her assailant initially penetrated her with his fingers.
The would-be rapist then ripped her clothes with a knife before attempting to rape her.
"He tried to penetrate me without a condom but he couldn't," said Tyeke.
Nigel Bougard, a lecturer at the University of Pretoria's social work and criminology faculty, said any type of penetration was, by law, a sexual assault.
Tyeke added: "They kept telling me that I was only a witness, not a victim. The police then took us to Hillbrow Clinic, but no doctor examined me or took DNA samples from my body."
Bougard said Tyeke's experience was a gross violation of her rights.
He said she should have been taken to the family violence, child protection and sexual offences unit of the police for multidisciplinary care that includes medical examination and post-HIV exposure treatment, irrespective of how she was penetrated.
No arrests have been made.
sifilel@sowetan.co.za
Are cops bungling Rhodes Park murder probe?
One of the victims of the attack at Kensington's Rhodes Park has accused police of ignoring her attempts to report a case of sexual assault.
Siphokazi Tyeke, who left a day after the attack for her home town of Port Elizabeth is still traumatised by the sight of a bag containing the torn clothes she wore that fateful day.
The underwear, vest and skirt she was wearing remain reminders of the gruesome evening.
Tyeke, 29, her husband Sizwe, Zukisa Kela and his fiancée Jabu Mbatha visited the park on their way back from church last Saturday when they were attacked by about 12 men. The two men were tied up and drowned in the lake. She was sexually assaulted and Mbatha raped. Both women agreed to be identified.
Tyeke said she was shocked and disappointed by the way police treated her hours after the incident . She said she also felt isolated by staff at the Hillbrow Clinic, who only examined Mbatha .
Both Mbatha and Tyeke said police have not asked them to help draw indetikits of their attackers. This despite calls made by the police to the public to help trace the killers.
She claimed the Cleveland police initially did not want to take a statement from her because she was a "witness" and not a victim.
Tyeke suffered minor bruises during the attack.
Police, however, claimed that Tyeke had denied she was either sexually violated or assaulted. Gauteng police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Lungelo Dlamini said police suspected Tyeke was sexually assaulted, but she denied it.
"Police are in the process of tracing her to obtain a further statement. It is also a criminal conduct to lie to the police about crime," he said.
Tyeke said her assailant initially penetrated her with his fingers.
The would-be rapist then ripped her clothes with a knife before attempting to rape her.
"He tried to penetrate me without a condom but he couldn't," said Tyeke.
Nigel Bougard, a lecturer at the University of Pretoria's social work and criminology faculty, said any type of penetration was, by law, a sexual assault.
Tyeke added: "They kept telling me that I was only a witness, not a victim. The police then took us to Hillbrow Clinic, but no doctor examined me or took DNA samples from my body."
Bougard said Tyeke's experience was a gross violation of her rights.
He said she should have been taken to the family violence, child protection and sexual offences unit of the police for multidisciplinary care that includes medical examination and post-HIV exposure treatment, irrespective of how she was penetrated.
No arrests have been made.
sifilel@sowetan.co.za
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