SA police apologise for leaking rape victims’ details
South Africa’s police service (Saps) has publicly apologised for revealing personal information of eight women who were raped last year at an abandoned mine.
The women were raped last July while they were shooting a music video at an abandoned mine in Krugersdorp, a mining town west of Johannesburg.
They were attacked by a gang of armed men.
National Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola said that as police investigated the matter, names, age and physical addresses of the victims were “released inappropriately but no ill-intent was uncovered”.
The information was shared on police WhatsApp groups and ended up on public social media, according to police.
“The Saps regrets the disclosure of such personal information and apologises to the victims of the dreadful crimes for the information breach and the hardship caused as a result,” it said in a statement.
The information regulator ordered Saps to apologise for violating several provisions of the law on protection of personal information.
It noted that the police failed to take appropriate, reasonable, technical measures to prevent the unlawful accessing of the information.
A total 14 people were arrested in connection with the rape incident but charges were later dropped for lack of evidence.
source: bbc
