South Africca – A man accused of shoplifting was handcuffed and driven to a remote location where he was allegedly raped by a Western Cape police officer before being taken home.
According to Graca Langa, a spokesperson for the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid), the 29-year-old constable has been arrested and will appear in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday for rape.
On Thursday around 16:00, the constable and two colleagues arrested the man for attempted shoplifting at a Junction Mall Jet clothing store in Nyanga. The officers allegedly handcuffed and assaulted the 31-year-old man upon their arrival at Jet Store before placing him in the back of a police van, according to the IPID.
Instead of transporting the man to the Nyanga police station, the constable driving the police van dropped off one of his colleagues at the Browns Farm satellite police station before driving the man to a secluded area where he allegedly raped him.
“The officer allegedly stopped the police vehicle near the airport where he stopped and opened the door, told the victim to kneel while he’s still in the police vehicle handcuffed from the back. He put a gun against the victim’s stomach and pulled down the victim’s pants,” Langa said.
She stated that after the officer allegedly raped the man, he took him to his house and removed his police uniform. The man was then allegedly dropped off at his home in Gugulethu by the police officer.
“The victim contacted his cousin who is a police officer and requested him to come to his house and told him what had happened,” she said.
