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Cops apologise for DNA 'error'
02/09/2005 08:44 - (SA)
Adriaan Basson, Beeld
Johannesburg - Police have apologised to a rape victim after giving her the wrong impression that they had "positive" DNA tests linking her to one of three suspects.
"Unfortunately, we mixed up the reports," said superintendent Eugene Opperman on Thursday about the wrong information repeatedly passed on to Tania Lucas of Kempton Park about her "rapist".
Lucas was raped next to her tied-up husband in their home in Bonaero Park two years ago.
The investigating officer from Benoni's unit against serious violent crime told Lucas a few weeks ago that positive DNA was found on a suspect and that she had to testify against him in Johannesburg High Court.
After talks with prosecutor Riaan Kock, it appeared that none of the three suspects could be positively linked to the rape.
The investigating officer, however, insisted that the DNA results were positive.
'Had built up a strong case'
Opperman said on Thursday that the mix-up was caused by the large number of cases linked to the three suspects.
According to the charge sheet, they were also charged with armed robbery and theft of Lucas and her husband's possessions, including an Izuzu bakkie and a 9mm pistol.
Opperman said the police "worked through many nights" to arrest the suspects and had built up a strong case against them.
He confirmed that semen found on Lucas could not be linked to any of the three men.
"The good work the police have done is now being overlooked and small communication errors are being abused as something else," he said.
Lucas said it wouldn't have been necessary for the police to apologise if they had handled the case correctly from the start and had gathered all the evidence.
"From the start, the investigation officers kept changing - at least five or six times.
'Dead or alive'
"I understand the police are working under a lot of strain, but that does not justify the fact that they gave me the wrong impression," she said.
Lucas said: "All I want is for the culprits to be caught so that my child and others won't have to go through the trauma of rape."
Opperman said the police would wait for the outcome of the present hearing before deciding whether to take the investigation further.
Lucas said she wanted her rapist "dead or alive".
"I'm looking for evidence. Only then will I be able to put the episode behind me and live life to the full again," she said.
- Beeld
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