Lionel Allorge, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Police to pay R800k (N65m) to man without manhood wrongfully arrested for rape
The South African police minister has been ordered to pay R800,000 (about N65m) in damages to a man who was wrongfully arrested and detained for 54 days over an alleged r@pe—despite lacking genitalia due to a childhood accident.
The KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Pietermaritzburg ruled in favor of the man, whose identity remains confidential, after the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) dropped all charges against him.
However, his claim for malicious prosecution was dismissed as the case never went to trial.
The 26-year-old was arrested at his Ladysmith home on March 26, 2020, despite his father informing police that the allegations were biologically impossible due to his condition.
Ignoring this, authorities detained him without bail and transferred him to Ladysmith Correctional Centre, where he endured overcrowding, poor sanitation, and lack of running water.
The judge criticized the investigating officer for failing to verify medical facts before detaining the man and for not informing prosecutors, leading to his wrongful imprisonment.
