Constable back at work after sexually assaulting gang-rape victim

By Cindy Witten
15 August 2008

A police constable was fined R10 000 by the Khayelitsha magistrate's court after being sent to court for sexually assaulting a gang-rape victim at the scene of the crime.

Police officer Albert Phoshoko had sexually assaulted the 30-year-old rape victim after arriving at the scene of the crime. While his colleagues searched for the woman’s underwear, as he helped the her to cover herself, Phoshoko told the woman that her “nakedness” aroused him. He the n proceeded to touch her inappropriately, thereby sexually assaulting her.
According to reports, contrary to the court ruling, an internal disciplinary hearing found that the officer was not guilty of any wrong doing and is back on duty at the police station.

Chantelle Cooper, Director of the Rape Crisis Centre in Cape Town, says that it is difficult to comment on the constable as they do not know the full details of the case, she however added that,
“This case clearly doesn’t recognise the rights of the survivor and how she feels. One’s got to question the sense of justice here. I mean, how do we find a balance in terms of internal processes that the police need to follow and the ambit of the law.”