Pretoria - Nearly 15 years after a then five-year-old was so brutally raped by a man she called “oom” (uncle) that she had to receive reconstructive surgery to her private parts and learn to walk again, the court this week ordered that the government had to pay her more than R5 million.
The payment is among other parts of compensation for the pain and suffering she had to endure. This is believed to be the biggest award to date in a claim of this nature.
The money includes general damages, loss of future income, and ongoing counselling sessions.
Her mother, who more than a decade ago instituted a damages claim on behalf of her daughter and herself against the then ministers of Justice and Safety and Security, is set to receive R500 000 from these government entities as well as a further R116 000 for future counselling.
The two ministers were held vicariously liable by the court in an earlier judgment for the ordeal of the child in July 2007, when she was abducted at her Oudtshoorn home by a man well known to her.
The man, who cannot be identified to protect the victim’s identity, is serving six life sentences behind bars. Two of these sentences pertain to this survivor, and four to the rape of one of his daughters, who was 12 at the time.
The court earlier held the ministers, in their official capacities, liable for the damages because the man was granted bail barely three weeks before he raped the girl in 2007. He had earlier served jail time for rape, and had been released.
But he was again arrested in March 2007 for repeatedly raping his own daughter. He applied for bail which the magistrate granted on June 15, 2007.
He then raped his latest victim (who has now claimed damages) three weeks later after he had abducted her from her home.
It was earlier argued on behalf of the mother that the authorities had failed her daughter by not keeping a known rapist behind bars. It was said that if the police and prosecution did their jobs after he was arrested in March 2007 for the repeated rape of his own daughter, the later rape would not have happened.
The court earlier agreed with this in finding the two state entities liable for her damages.
It had emerged that neither the police nor the prosecution did much to establish the facts surrounding the rapist’s circumstances and his history of rape, and they thus did not vigorously oppose his bail at the time.
The mother and daughter, however, have had to wait for nearly a decade before they received justice, as the Western Cape High Court only this week ordered the amounts which should be awarded to them.
The matter was delayed for years due to various reasons, including that the then justice ministry (unsuccessfully) turned to the Supreme Court of Appeal against the finding that it was liable for damages.
Acting Judge Bernard Martin this week in his judgment commented that “not even the word barbaric could adequately describe the utter mayhem wreaked on the helpless 5-year-old victim in this case”.
“Her bewilderment at being savagely penetrated, not once but twice, by someone she referred to as ’oom’, defies description,” the judge said.
The rapist, who pleaded guilty two years later to raping this victim as well as his own daughter, left the child in a field after he savagely raped her. She had to make her own way to safety, and a couple found the bloodied child on their doorstep.
A police officer – the first on the scene where she was found – earlier testified he just burst into tears and hugged the fragile bundle, who due to the blood on her clothes had clearly been raped, while her hair was covered in twigs.
The mother later remarked to the court that when she saw her child in hospital for the first time after her disappearance, the first thought in her mind was “this is not my child. She is dead”.
Psychologists meanwhile said the trauma was so severe on the child’s mental health, that it’s doubtful that she will ever be gainfully employed. She is still suffering lasting psychological conditions and needs long and intensive therapy.
Pretoria News