The rape and murder of Anene Booysen has brought back memories for a woman who was also gang-raped at 17.
|||Cape Town - The rape and murder of 17-year-old Anene Booysen has brought back memories for a woman who was also gang-raped at 17.
It has been 28 years, but Analise Grimwood remembers the assault as if it happened yesterday. She said she and a male companion ran out of petrol in Sherwood Park on the way home from a club on Christmas Eve.
“As we climbed out of the car, four men, wearing balaclavas and carrying knives, surrounded the car. They threatened to kill us and my male friend ran off.”
Grimwood said one man put a knife to her neck and threatened to kill her if she screamed. “I was so paralysed with shock that I couldn't walk. They had to drag me. By then I realised what they were going to do, I wet myself from the shock.”
They dragged her into someone's backyard and took turns raping her, while smoking and drinking. “Afterwards they removed their balaclavas and said they would have to kill me because I saw their faces.”
Grimwood said it might have been a gang initiation because two of the younger perpetrators did not want to rape her, but were forced to.
She said the men started arguing about who would kill her and she ran to the house’s back door. She was stabbed in the back as she fled.
She found the door open. “Luckily the woman living there left the door open for her son who was a firefighter on night shift.”
Grimwood’s lungs had been punctured and she had to have dialysis.
She was in hospital for a month. She identified one of the men in a police identity parade, but he was released after his mother testified that he had been at home with her that night.
“No one even asked me to speak in court. My family and I had bricks thrown through our house windows, with notes threatening to kill us if we spoke.”
Grimwood said she had last asked after her case a year ago.
“The police told me it was probably in the archives, because they have no record of it.” She added that reading about Booysen’s case made her emotional, because nothing had changed.
“Half the time people report rape, but nothing gets done. I went to the police all the time, but no one told me anything... Rape survivors need more support.
I would like to find out what has happened to my case.”
Police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel André Traut said crimes against women and children were prioritised and it was unfortunate no one had been convicted.
He said cases of this nature were closed if there were no developments, but could be reopened. He urged Grimwood to approach the Manenberg police.
natasha.bezuidenhout@inl.co.za
Survivors haunted by trauma
Survivors of traumatic events like rape go through different forms of emotional and physical aftershocks, says Megan Meredith, manager at the Community Intervention Centre, a free 24-hour intervention and support service operating from Medi-clinic Milnerton.
“Most victims go through physical reactions such as fear and anger directed towards themselves as they couldn’t protect themselves. Some doubt they will ever feel normal again, and others experience heart palpitations and loss of appetite,” she said.
Meredith and her team are often called on to counsel rape survivors soon after the crime happens. “Most women are in complete shock and numb. Others will act out by screaming and shouting. The anger happens afterwards. Our main focus is to stabilise the person and provide a support system, which includes getting them to acknowledge what has happened to them,” she said. - Nontando Mposo
Cape Argus