Court ruling highlights GBV response failures at Belhar police station

A MAN’S failed appeal against his life sentence has flecked open the injustices his estranged wife suffered following a drug-fuelled rape and attack, which brought the woman within inches of losing her life.

- CHEVON BOOYSEN

The judgment in the Western Cape High Court has shone the spotlight on the beleaguered Belhar police station, where the victim - in a critically bruised and bloodied state - was left without help for more than two hours while attempting to report the crime.

In handing down judgment, Judge Mas-Udah Pangarker said the judgment should send out “a strong message that rape and gratuitous violence of the nature that the complainant faced, as do so many other women and children, are not taken lightly by the courts”.

Judge Pangarker ordered that current station commander at Belhar SAPS investigate the circumstances and reasons why the complainant was not promptly assisted on or about October 15, 2019. The estranged couple are parents of two minor children who are now in the care of family after the father was jailed and the mother finds herself back on the streets, having again succumbed to her drug addiction.

Police spokesperson Frederick van Wyk said Belhar SAPS is still awaiting the directive from the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) with regard to the matter.

“Currently, there is a victim support room that was revamped, where victims get interviewed and assisted with counselling. Members also get in-service training by senior members on how to deal with victims of Gender Base Violence,’ said Van Wyk.