South Africa: My true story

*Triger warning: Violence*

It was 2001, when I was staying with my aunt *T, where she was renting. I used to come back home from school before her as she knocked off from work at 16:30. One day I was from school and I was feeling hot so I decided to take a bath, as I was bathing the guy who we rented with came in the bathroom and i told him I was busy bathing, he just walked in, as the door couldn’t be locked. He came in and he raped me and as he was busy raping me one of the tenants walked in and saw what he was doing, he threatened her not to tell anyone and he ran away. The tenant phoned the police and my aunt; my aunt arrived before the police, they only arrived in the hospital and I was so scared of even going to school.

The other day on my way to the hospital I saw the guy who raped me at the filling station with a different car and I immediately phoned the investigating police who told me that I should got to Edendale Hospital. The police officer arrived and we went to the guy and he was asked if he knew me to which he responded yes as we used to be tenants in the same house. The investigating police asked him if he knew there was a rape case against him and he said ‘no, how can you rape your girlfriend?’ He was not arrested on that day. The police told me to go to the hospital and I should bring the tests at the police station the following day.

The following day I went to the police station with the results and I found the guy with his family already there. I gave the results to the investigating police who confirmed that I was raped and he was immediately taken for finger printing. And I went home. One day the investigating police came to my place to inform me about the court date on the 14 December. A few days before the court date, I fell sick and I was admitted in hospital so I couldn’t attend the court on the 14th of December.
While I was in hospital the guy’s family came to my family to propose settling the rape case out of court in form of compensation fee. My family agreed on my behalf without consulting me first. I was sad and angry when I came out of the hospital and I was told about the agreement. The investigating police came to my home with the letter stating that the case had been dropped. I did not get any support from my family even my uncle *X.