Dog rape: Racial undertones?

2003-04-10 00:27

Johannesburg - The bail hearing of two Taiwanese nationals accused of brutally assaulting their teenage domestic worker and forcing her to have intercourse with a dog in Kempton Park on Tuesday, will continue on Thursday.

North Rand police spokesperson Superintendent Eugene Opperman said on Wednesday that Cheri Wang's bail application and that of her brother, Ken Wang, would continue in the Kempton Park magistrate's court at noon on Thursday.

The siblings appeared briefly before magistrate Stephen Holzen on Wednesday. The Wangs face charges of attempted murder, assault to do grievous bodily harm and sexual assault.

Cheri Wang, 24, was arrested on Tuesday night while Ken Wang, 26, handed himself over to the police at the court on Wednesday morning. The two would remain in custody, Opperman said.

He said the police were still looking for a third suspect.

The suspects reportedly woke the girl up at 01:30 on Tuesday and accused her of not doing her cleaning work properly.

They then allegedly shot at her, beat her up, and then forced her on to her hands and knees while a large Rotweiler penetrated her.

The girl, who worked at the family's plot as a domestic worker, later managed to run away and report the incident to the police.

Racial undertones

The two denied all allegations against them. Their attorney J du Preez testified that he had known the family for about five years.

Du Preez said Ken Wang contacted him early on Wednesday telling him that police were looking for him. Du Preez then arranged for Wang to hand himself over to the court, where he and his sister were charged.

The suspects are children of a popular Chinese business couple. The two, together with their parents, run a bottle store and a Chinese takeaway shop in Kempton Park.

They also own a block of flats in Johannesburg. The siblings have Taiwanese and South African citizenship.

However, their alleged behaviour continued to draw reaction on Wednesday. Political parties and the police said the two should not be granted bail.

Democratic Alliance MP Mike Waters said he was "shaken to the core" by "this horrific incident against a child".

"Despite all the horrors I have been exposed to in the past few months, I am shaken to the core by allegations of this ghastly and inhumane act," Waters said.

He said he would be watching the case closely to ensure that the victim received justice and all the support that the state could provide.

United Democratic Movement MP Jakes Maseka said his party would instruct its attorneys to monitor the case and ensure that it was properly probed for the immediate prosecution of the siblings.

"The possibility of racial undertones to this incident could set this country's nation-building efforts back many years," Maseka said.

- SAPA