By Monica Laganparsad and Tania Broughton

A gentle rape. This "concept", introduced by a senior KwaZulu-Natal advocate in the Pietermaritzburg High Court, has raised eyebrows in legal circles and angered women and children's rights campaigners.

At issue is the submission of David Gordon SC, before a full bench of the High Court, in his argument for the acquittal of attorney Robinson Manzi who was sentenced to 14 years in jail for raping a 14-year-old girl.

The state wants the sentence increased but Manzi wants the conviction set aside. Gordon argued that the sentence was "too hearty".

'The worst thing a man can do to a woman is rape'
He said there had been no evidence of psychological damage to the victim and submitted that it could have been termed a "gentle rape".

He withdrew this remark when Judge Pete Combrinck suggested there was no such thing but went on to to say the rape had apparently not been "so traumatic for the victim that she was unable to enjoy the snacks and luxuries of the Hilton Hotel" where Manzi put her up for the night with her cousin after the incident.

Judgment in the appeal has been reserved.

Sharita Samuel, an attorney with the Women's Rights Project at the Durban Legal Resources Centre, wrote to Independent Newspapers to say that, despite the withdrawal of some of the submissions, they represented a real danger to advances made in South Africa in convicting and sentencing rapists.

"It undermines the objectives and efforts of those trying to secure fundamental guarantees that women in many other parts of the world take for granted," she wrote.

"Such arguments and submissions in the public arena by highly respected members of the Bar represent real obstacles to lawyers committed to using the law and litigation as tools to secure substantive equality for all South Africans."

Childline Durban director Linda Dhabicharan said a child was powerless when being raped: "Even if the child used the word gentle, it does not make it any less of a violation or betrayal of trust."

Gordon said he had been quoting the victim. "If you look at the record, that description came from the complainant. When asked to describe the accused's physical conduct, she used the word gentle."

He did not tolerate any kind of violence towards women. "The worst thing a man can do to a woman is rape - but the worst thing a woman can do to a man is falsely accuse him of rape."

KwaZulu-Natal Society of Advocates chairman Nirmal Singh said it was an advocate's duty to make whatever argument he could justifiably make on behalf of his client.

However, he did not want to comment further until judgment had been given on the appeal.

__________________

The practice of putting women on pedestals began to die out when it was discovered that they could give orders better from there.~ Betty Grable

If I wanted your opinion, I'd remove the duct tape and ask you for it.~ Me
<~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~>
One man's dream is another man's nightmare~~~~> §¤ Lilith ¤§
~>My Scribbles<~
==>Gone Shopping<== ~Just a Quickie~ *~A Celebration Vacation~* ~Surprises~ Sleeping With the Window Open
What Did You Do Today? Self Defense Class ~Short Sweet Snippets~ § Summer Spin § Story Challenge Submission Pajamas

Doesn't everything you read make you hate lawyers more and more?

__________________
Though I am different from you,
We were born involved in one another.

For it was not into my ear you whispered, but into my heart. It was not my lips you kissed, but my soul.

Complete surrender should not just come at moments in which one faces overwhelming odds, but in the calm when it seems one is personally in complete control of one's life.

Is it OK if I gently kill the people who thought up this defence?

And the world goes further into the lawyers hands....

__________________
Love...the slowest form of suicide.

Words don't change the fact that rape is one of the worst crimes I can think of and that raping a child is the worst of the worst.

that lawyer should have the crap "gently" beat out of him...that way it won't be assault... as he is passed out from the beating maybe he can be put in a nice hotel so he can "enjoy the luxuries" of it.

__________________
-Toast-
"It takes a lot of brains to enjoy satire, humor and wit - but none to be offended by them." -- Johnny Hart ("BC", cartoonist, 2000)
"Analyzing humor is like dissecting a frog: Nobody really enjoys it and the frog generally dies as a result." -- E. B. White

I wonder what would have prompted a 14 year old to describe the rape as gentle? I also am not entirely suprised that a 14 year old helped herself to snacks and other items afterwards.....that is one of the most normal teen traits and perhaps was her only normal comfort.....

The lawyer that inserted the comment and suggested that the sentance be reduced should be on the receiving end of a "gentle" rape... see what he thinks about it.....

__________________
A blessed thing it is for any man or woman to have a friend, one human soul whom we can trust utterly, who knows the best and worst of us, and who loves us in spite of all our faults.