COSTLY ERROR! ! ! Man Without Pènis Nabbed For Rape, See What Happened In Court
In a landmark decision that has captured widespread attention, the South African police minister has been mandated to pay a hefty sum of R800, 000 (approximately N65 million) in damages to a man who suffered an egregious miscarriage of justice.
The KwaZulu- Natal High Court in Pietermaritzburg delivered the ruling in favor of the 26- year- old Ladysmith resident, whose identity is being withheld to safeguard his dignity, after he endured 54 days of wrongful arrest and detention on a baseless rape charge— a crime he was physically incapable of committing due to a childhood injury that left him without genitalia.
The harrowing ordeal began on March 26, 2020, when police descended upon the man’ s home in Ladysmith, arresting him on allegations of raping a neighbor’ s child.
Despite his father’ s immediate and desperate pleas to the authorities— explaining that his son’ s condition, stemming from a traumatic mutilation years earlier, rendered the accusation biologically impossible— the police disregarded this critical information. Instead, they pressed forward, denying the man bail just four days later and subjecting him to a nightmarish 54- day incarceration.
His detention spanned both a local police holding cell and the Ladysmith Correctional Centre, where he faced appalling conditions: overcrowded cells, a lack of running water, and a non- functional toilet that forced him to sleep on a blanket atop a filthy floor.
The court’ s judgment painted a damning picture of negligence by the investigating officer, who failed to verify the man’ s medical history or relay the exculpatory evidence to the prosecution.
This glaring oversight prolonged his unjust imprisonment until May 18, 2020, when a medical examination finally confirmed his physical incapacity to commit the alleged crime, prompting the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to withdraw the charges.
While the NPA escaped liability for malicious prosecution— since the case never proceeded to trial— the judge spared no criticism for the police’ s reckless handling of the matter, emphasizing that the investigating officer’ s inaction directly violated the man’ s rights and dignity.
The R800, 000 award reflects compensation for the unlawful arrest and detention, acknowledging the severe emotional and physical toll of his ordeal. The court underscored the inhumane conditions he endured, though it noted limited specific evidence about his cell’ s state beyond the broader reality of South Africa’ s overcrowded prisons.
Even so, the ruling stands as a powerful rebuke of the authorities’ failure to act with due diligence, leaving the man without so much as an apology or explanation for the life- altering trauma inflicted upon him.
