Civil rights organisations seek answers on death of sex worker in Cape Town

Mowbray residents and members of civil rights organisations took to the streets on Friday, calling for justice for Robyn Montsumi, a sex worker who allegedly died in police custody in Cape Town.

The Black Peoples National Crisis Committee (BPNCC) said that Montsumi, 39, died at the Mowbray police station in April.

Lindokuhle Patiwe, BPNCC convener, on Friday said that about 40 members of civil rights groups and residents marched to the police station to deliver a memorandum.

The group, he said, had called on the police to account for her death.

Patiwe questioned whether she had hung herself in custody.

“Even though she was a sex worker and a homeless person, Robyn deserved to live,” said Patiwe.

Sweat advocacy manager Dudu Dlamini said the organisation was calling for decriminalisation of sex workers.

“We want justice for Robyn ... Sex workers who are homeless are also human beings. We want to know what happened to Robyn,” Dlamini said.

The Asijiki Coalition and Sonke Gender Justice distanced themselves from the march on Friday but said in a statement that they fully supported the call for an investigation into the death of Montsumi.

-TimesLIVE