Cop, teens acquitted of rape
2005-06-01 10:22
Pietermaritzburg - Two awaiting-trial juveniles and a policeman were on Tuesday acquitted of raping two teenage girls in the Mountain Rise police holding cells on December 26 2003.
In acquitting two 16-year-old boys and a policeman of rape, a Pietermaritzburg High Court judge said the evidence pointed to consensual sex and that the policeman had been in "flagrant breach of police regulations".
The boys, who cannot be named because they are minors, were alleged to have raped two girls, aged 15 and 16, during the early hours of December 26 while being detained at the Mountain Rise cells as awaiting-trial prisoners.
The rapes were allegedly facilitated with the help of policeman Mawawa Jingxi, which made him liable, the State alleged.
Judge Phillip Levinsohn said the complainants' evidence was "riddled with difficulties".
"All the surrounding circumstances point to the inevitable inference that what occurred on the night in question was consensual sex," he said.
In fact, he continued, the first complainant admitted there was a relationship between her and the boy who she alleged raped her.
Embrace
He said that what sealed the inference that the sex was not coercive is the evidence of a State witness who said she saw the two 16-year-old boys and the complainants embrace. She herself admitted to having sex with Jingxi on the night in question.
However, Levinsohn added that everything suggested that Jingxi's conduct was in flagrant breach of police regulations. He facilitated the acts. However, this did not make him guilty of rape.
He added that the policeman's conduct might be scrutinised internally, but that the court was not called upon to deal with it at this stage.
Police spokesperson superintendent Joshua Gwala said they would examine the police docket and the judge's decision and then decide what steps to follow.