Young bride raped
2003-10-22 21:39
Johannesburg - "I can't sleep, and I can't eat. I don't even go out to buy cigarettes."
This was the reaction of a young woman who fears that she might be HIV positive after she was raped in her bed while lying next to her husband, barely a month after they got married.
"But," said Tania Lucas, 26, from Benoni, "this will not break our marriage.
"Whatever the result of the Aids test, I will come out positive on the other side. I will not become another statistic."
Lucas and her husband, Gareth, 25, were married on September 13. Barely a month later, they were robbed in their house in Bonaero Park, Kempton Park.
"We were lying in bed (about 02:00). The next moment, I saw a hand against the wall at the light switch."
Four armed men overpowered the couple and robbed them.
"One of the men came back and dragged me towards him by the feet. He raped me in our bed, next to my husband.
"I heard my husband starting to cry. I turned my head away and thought of other things.
"Another man entered the room. They spoke to each other and laughed."
They then left the room. Later, another man came into the room to asked her which car they could take.
After the robbers had left in the couple's bakkie, they managed to free themselves and seek help.
"I've asked Gareth to burn our bed. But he thinks we should just leave the country," Lucas said.
The couple are considering moving to England.