South Africa's Anene Booysen gang-rape: Second man charged

BBC News, 12 February 2013

The attack has sparked outrage across South Africa

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A second man has been charged in a South African court with the brutal gang rape and murder of 17-year-old Anene Booysen in a case which has shocked the nation.

Jonathan Davids hid his face after the court ruled that the media should not show his face, or that of Johannes Kana, who was charged earlier.

Parents with prams were among some 100 anti-rape protesters outside court.

South Africa has one of the highest rates of sexual violence in the world.

Police figures show that 64,000 cases were reported last year.

Ms Booysen was gang-raped, murdered and mutilated at a construction site in Bredasdorp, a rural town some 130km (80 miles) from Cape Town, on 1 February.

She was found by a private security guard and died in hospital, in an attack that saw South Africans drawing parallels with the brutal rape and killing of a 23-year student in India's capital, Delhi, in December.

'Gruesome'

Minister of Women Lulu Xingwana was at the court and hugged Ms Booysen's family, reports the Reuters news agency.

"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," she said.

President Jacob Zuma and other politicians have already publicly condemned the attack.

Mr Kana and Mr Davids appeared in court with their faces covered with a towel and jacket.

The court ruled on Monday that the media could not show their faces because prosecutors were concerned that this could jeopardise ongoing investigations, the South African Press Association (Sapa) reports.

Eric Ntabazalila, regional spokesman for the National Prosecuting Authority said he would seek a life sentence against the pair "considering how gruesome the murder was", reports the AFP news agency.

Police released a third person at the weekend because of a lack of evidence against him.

Angry residents, as well as members of the governing African National Congress's (ANC) youth wing and the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA), marched to the court to demand an end to rape on Tuesday.

Many young families pushed their children in prams in the procession, Sapa reports.

The case was postponed to 26 February for bail applications.