Mother of former rape victim wants to bring accused to court

Deveney Nel’s killer faces another legal battle as the mother of the 11-year-old victim, who accused Nel’s alleged killer of rape, will take him to court to find out why the legal process “let him go.” Cape Town etc. reports.

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“My daughter reported her rape and the brutal attack she survived because she wanted to protect other children from attacks. But the system completely failed her… and we believe it failed Deveney Nel as well,” the mother explained.

“We need answers as to how someone who subjected my daughter to a sustained, brutal rape attack and then threw her unconscious into a lake where she could easily have drowned could be found incompetent to prosecute,” she added.

“Worse still, although psychiatric experts determined that the accused rapist was a high risk for crime and violence, their recommendation that he be examined by the juvenile court was never followed. And a year after the case against him was dropped, he allegedly stabbed Deveney to death.”

The mother decided to initiate an investigation against the alleged rapist after her previous efforts to find out what crimes he was accused of committing against her daughter had been unsuccessful.

Although she had requested a copy of the indictment in her daughter’s case against the alleged rapist, the National Prosecution Authority (NPA) has now informed the mother’s lawyer that “such an indictment does not exist”.

“The case did not progress from the preliminary investigation phase to the criminal court. There is therefore no indictment, only preliminary investigation documents,” said Manda Prins, senior public prosecutor at the Albertinia District Court.

“The National Prosecuting Authority is not the custodian of the preliminary investigation files, but is under the Ministry of Justice. My understanding is that you should submit an application under the Promotion of Access to Information Act. [PAIA] 2 of 2000,” Prins added.

The mother had decided to review the process because She has “growing concerns” about the legality of the preliminary proceedings that allowed the alleged rapist to walk freereported by News24.

In addition, it can “take several months for a PAIA application to be processed,” and the review process requires that “all materials and documents that were used to make the decision of the NPA and the presiding judge in the case” be released to the mother of the alleged rape victim.

The rape victim’s mother had tried in vain for years to persuade the public prosecutor to “answer her questions and meet with her.”

According to the victim’s mother, the only police officer who tried to help her was the officer investigating the case.

“After this experience, I don’t believe the legal system protects children who are bullied by other children,” the mother said.

“My daughter will have to live with what happened to her for the rest of her life, but her attacker was able to carry on with his life as if nothing had happened. And I believe Deveney Nel paid the ultimate price for that,” the mother added.

The rape trial against Deveney’s alleged murderer has raised some questions about how was treated.

The psychiatrist and clinical psychologist at Valkenberg Hospital who examined the teenager concluded that the accused had “cognitive weaknesses as well as moral and social immaturity”.

Therefore, he concluded that the patient was not criminally responsible at the time of the alleged rape of the 11-year-old victim by the teenager in 2020.

However, the defendant is at high risk of committing a crime, using violence and “disregarding social rules and norms,” according to the psychiatrist and clinical psychologist.

The psychiatrist and clinical psychologist recommended that the alleged juvenile rapist be referred to juvenile court.

Normally, the Western Cape Department of Social Development would have 90 days to investigate what should happen to him.

The department will also decide whether the defendant poses “such a potential danger to himself and others” that he needs to be treated in a closed facility.

The case was eventually withdrawn.

Read also:

Teenager accused of murdering Deveney Nel faces court again

Picture: Hoërskool Overberg / Facebook