Perils of Hitch Hiking

Hitch hiking is one of the popular modes of travelling in Europe. People stand on the highways and seek lift from others travelling in car, bus, motorcycle etc. There have been several incidents of crime against these hitch hikers but nevertheless people persist in this mode of travelling. I have had this desire to hitch hike in some part of my life somewhere in the world but then now after reading this news report dated Jan 26, 2008, on News24.com I am starting to feel apprehensive.

This happened South Africa. A young hitchhiker who was raped by three women when he accepted a lift last week, is receiving trauma counselling and medical treatment. The 20-year-old man is drawn and shaky as he explains that he was hitchhiking from Alkmaar to Nelspruit in Mpumalanga last Monday evening when three women and two men gave him a lift in a Toyota Venture with Gauteng number plates.

When the hitchhiker told them he wanted to catch a taxi from Nelspruit to Mangweni village near Komatipoort, where he lives, they claimed to be going in the same direction, to nearby Tonga. They first stopped at a shopping mall to buy some food and then they were on the road at 19:30.

"They bought food to eat but they didn't give me anything. I only bought a soft drink," said the tired-looking man in an interview.

He said that just before the Matsulu turn-off on the N4 highway, the driver pulled off the road and drove into some bushes and ordered him to undress so that the three women could have sex with him.

Raped at Gun Point
"I tried to resist, but the men became aggressive and pointed their weapons at me. I told myself to try obey everything they said because I realised my life was in danger," he said adding that when they fired off shots, one of them grazed his leg.

He said the men picked him up so the women could take off his clothes. Meanwhile the heavily built women also got undressed. He estimates the women to be aged between 26 and 38.

One of the men then prepared a place on the back seat of the Venture where the young man was raped. He said two of the woman raped him once, while a third raped him twice.

"I have never had sex like this in my entire life, I think these women were prostitutes. They knew what they were doing, but I'm afraid they might have infected me with diseases," he said, his voice laced with anger.

He said that the two men pointed their guns at him throughout the ordeal, until the women said they had had enough. He said his assailants had earlier asked him to pay R40 for the lift, but after raping him they offered to give him R20.

HIV test
He said that although he had a cellphone, wallet and bag of clothes, his assailants didn't rob him. They left him on the roadside to make his own way home. He caught a taxi.

"When I got home, I went straight to bed and slept right through until 15:00 on Tuesday. Then I told a relative what happened and they told me to go to the police," he said

Busi Sithole, a counsellor at the Masisukumeni Women's Crisis Centre in Tonga, is giving the young man counselling.

"We have already taken him to Tonga hospital to see a doctor. He was given treatment against possible diseases and was tested for HIV. He will get his results next week," she said.

Spokesperson for Tonga police station, Constable Mzwandile Nyambi, said police had registered a case with attempt to murder and rape charges.

"It is the first time that our police station has had to attend to this kind of case. We don't even know whether to call it rape or indecent assault," she said adding that the young man was very brave to report what had happened to him.

These is the irony of a patriarchal society. Men are not expected to be victims of rape, they are believed to enjoy such events. But men also undergo trauma and feel used. The society has been so male dominated that there are no mechanisms to deal with such crimes. When will it get created and when will we have a truly equal society?

Source: News24.com