Women should accept that men who abuse them don't love them but are criminals, Deputy Police Minister Maggie Sotyu said.
|||Women should accept that men who abuse them don't love them but are criminals, Deputy Police Minister Maggie Sotyu said on Wednesday.
Addressing family, friends and police officers in a packed memorial service for slain constable Francis Rasuge in Hammanskraal, north of Pretoria, Sotyu slated women who failed to press charges against abusive husbands or partners.
“It's not love, it's criminal. He (Rasuge's killer) is not a real man, he is a criminal.”
The minister said she had seen too many women reporting domestic violence and later withdrawing charges because they had reconciled with their partners.
“And when they come back, they will abuse you and then you cry and say the police aren't helping you,” she said.
Rasuge went missing in August 2004. She was last seen alive with William Nkuna outside a hairdressing salon in Temba. Nkuna was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2005 for Rasuge's murder, even though her body had not been found.
In March this year, construction workers discovered bones while laying a foundation at Nkuna's house. About a week later, police confirmed they was Rasuge's remains.
Sotyu said Nkuna did not just torture the Rasuge family by not telling them where she was buried, but was a heartless criminal who tortured his own wife.
“He (Nkuna) even tortured his own wife and family... making them live in a place where he had buried Rasuge's body,” she said.
“How many more bodies are in Nkuna's home?” she asked.
Minister of Women, Children and People with Disabilities Lulu Xingwana said when women allowed men to abuse them, they were sealing their own fate.
“Because as women, we always kiss and make up and forgive... you must know that allowing this abuse over a long time will lead to your death.”
Xingwana described Nkuna as a monster who deserved to rot in jail.
“We now know the truth even if the brute and animal who murdered this young girl never told us... Nkuna must rot in jail for the rest of his life.”
To bring an end to violence against women and children, women would have to demand that those arrested for such crimes were not granted bail.
Sotyu said when Nkuna killed Rasuge, it showed his disregard for the law.
“When you kill an officer, you are killing government.”
Sotyu said it angered her that Rasuge was killed in August eight years ago, during women's month.
It was symbolic then, that Rasuge's remains were found in March this year, a month set aside to celebrate human rights. This proved that justice prevailed, she said.
Sotyu urged the Temba community not to hold grudges against Nkuna's wife or family, but to direct their anger at fighting gender-based violence.
“Even Nkuna's children, wherever they are, should also feel ashamed to have a father like him.” - Sapa