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By Chevon Booysen 
1 hour ago
Cape Town – A Super Rugby player who allegedly attacked a pregnant woman has been released under a warning before his first court appearance next year.
The 19-year-old is expected to appear in Atlantis Magistrates Court on January 5 after he was arrested by Melkbosstrand police for allegedly physically and verbally abusing the woman in front of her mother and two children. He also allegedly made racial slurs.
Venice Burgins, a spokesperson for the alleged victim’s family, a 27-year-old woman from Atlantis, said the ordeal had traumatized the woman, but with the impending court case, her family was hopeful for justice.
The woman was in a shopping center with her family on December 13 when she met the defendant with a group of friends.
According to the woman, they allegedly made comments directed at her and those around her.
Upon returning to her car, the woman said there was an altercation after the group allegedly tried to collide with a car guard, rather than hitting the victim’s vehicle.
The woman said that when she tried to contact the police, they took the phone from her hand and physically assaulted her with a car door. She accused the man of allegedly also making racist comments, hitting her on the head and suffocating her.
Burgins, also from the Ukubavimba Foundation activist organization, said that when the victim tried to report the case to Melkbosstrand police that day, they gave her a contact number to report the case.
The case was finally registered on December 20 after the assistance of the Atlantis Action Group, which reported the matter to the foundation.
“Gender-based violence and femicide abound in our country, the second pandemic after Covid, and must be dealt with in the harshest way.
“The fact that this assault was against a 37-week pregnant woman in the presence of her mother and children leaves much room to be desired about the character of the suspect,” Burgins said.
Police spokesman Andrè Traut said: “(One case) was registered by a woman for assault, criminal injury, reckless and negligent driving and abandoning the scene of the accident. The suspect, a 19-year-old boy, was arrested and must appear in court once he has been charged.
“(Another case) was registered by a 55-year-old woman for attempted murder, no one has been arrested so far.
“The allegation that the Melkbosstrand police station rejected the victim is being investigated at the departmental level. However, this process is an internal matter. “
Cape times
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