The
brutal murder of a 17-year-old girl, who was gang-raped, horrifically
mutilated and left to die on a building site, has sparked a national
outcry in South Africa.
Anene Booysen was discovered by security guards on the site in the sleepy town of Bredasdorp, 80 miles east of Cape Town.
According
to a Health Department spokesman, her injuries were so severe that her
family asked authorities not to release the details.
However it was later revealed that her
stomach had been slit open down to her genitals and that she had died
from her injuries in hospital.
She managed to identify one of her attackers before her death and two men have appeared in court charged with rape and murder.
Jonathan
Davids, 22, and Johannes Kana, 21, covered their faces to hide from
television cameras and photographers as they made their way into the
courtroom.
The
magistrate ordered the pair court to remain behind bars until Feb. 26
when their bail application will be heard. They face a maximum life
sentence if found guilty.
Police
freed a third man arrested after the incident due to lack of evidence
linking him to the crime, but said they were investigating whether there
were others also involved.
A
crowd of 100 people protested outside the courthouse in Bredasdorp,
carrying placards saying 'Show no mercy to rapists' and 'No bail to
murderers'.
Booysen's brother told local media he knew one of the suspects.
He said: 'He was a friend of mine, we went to school together, stayed in one house, we were like brothers.'
On Friday, hundreds of people marched
through Bredasdorp, chanting 'enough is enough' and hundreds attended
the funeral on Saturday.
Hundreds of mourners, including
politicians, packed a church in the town of Bredasdorp, while a tent was
set up to accommodate those who couldn't fit inside.
The killing echoed the gang rape of a
student on a New Delhi bus last year, and has focused attention on South
Africa's high rates of sex crime.
Booysen was found by security guards lying a short distance from her house after partying at a bar last Friday evening.
The Women's League of the ruling
African National Congress is trying to mobilise the public into similar
action to the protests against anti-female violence that took place in
India after the New Delhi attack.
On Saturday, South African media
reported police had arrested a Johannesburg pastor for luring a woman
into his church and raping her.
President Jacob Zuma expressed shock
and outrage, calling for the harshest possible sentences for the killers
and a concerted campaign 'to end this scourge in our society'.
South Africa's women's minister called on Tuesday for the toughest possible punishment to be imposed.
Minister
of Women Lulu Xingwana, who has met with the victim's family said: 'We
are saying to the court today there must be no bail for these criminals
and monsters.'
'We
expect the toughest and the harshest sentence that can act as a
deterrent to other criminals that abuse and kill our women and
children.'
'As
an activist I strongly push that there should be no bail for these
monsters. What would they do if this happened to any of their family
members?' said Faraah September.
South
Africa has the highest number of reported rapes per head of population
of any Interpol member country, with more than 64,500 reported in
2011/2012.
A rape is said to be committed in South Africa every four minutes.
Even when suspects are caught, only 12 percent of cases end in conviction and sex crimes seldom cause much public concern.
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