“When I hear the verdict, not guilty, it sent me in a rage. You know, I was afraid to go forward with this case, reason being when the time come I would get no justice and so said so done. I now have to live in shame. I shame as a woman for a man to do all those things to me…and the jury did not believe me and now I am like a liar and have to live in shame.”
These were the words of a young woman who believes the system mistreated her after a 12-member jury found the man she said had violated her in the worse possible way two years ago, not guilty. She was battered and bruised; there was evidence of this on her body. There was also evidence of the man’s semen on her body when she escaped from his car and sought refuge from a patrol. But it was an uphill battle to get the police to launch an investigation and it took some time before he was charged. However, while she won the battle she eventually lost the war.
She wanted to share her experience and did not mind speaking to me as we have developed a relationship over the past two years.
