living in fear after receiving the video calls and messages
A masked sex-pest is causing fear and anguish in the lives of many women from the Tongaat, Verulam and Phoenix areas, as he continues to terrorise them via video call, from an unknown location.
The man, believed to be an African male, hides his face behind a balaclava mask when he calls the women that he is targeting. One of his victims said the man uses different cellphone numbers when he calls or sends vulgar text messages. Speaking to the Tongaat and Verulam Tabloid, Miss Govender, who is a resident of Tongaat, said the harassment has been ongoing for the past 10 months. Constantly living in fear when the phone rings, Govender said she started receiving incessant video calls in January. “The calls were coming through so many times that I decided to answer as it was my work phone and I thought that it could be work related, however I was disgusted at what I saw. When I answered the call there was a man who was fully naked with a green balaclava mask touching himself,” said Govender. “In a shock I cut the call, thereafter immediately blocking the number. Although I was distressed I kept wondering why and how this could have happened to me. A few hours later I received a call from another number by the name of ‘Jessica’ and was disgusted to find that it was the same man doing the same thing,” she said.
Govender shared that following the first two calls she started declining all video calls, which then led the man contacting via text messages. “It continued to happen day after day with different phone numbers and he would message me before calling, to tell me to ‘watch’,” she added. Govender said when the harassment started she was reluctant to tell anyone about what was happening, as she was ashamed and afraid that no one would believe her. “I did not know what to do and how to take this matter forward until I confided to my colleagues, they advised me to record the man and open up a case at our local police station. In July when the man called me again, my colleagues recorded what he was doing and I opened a case at the Phoenix SAPS. I provided the officers with the video along with all the numbers he tried and used to contact me with,” said Govender.
The traumatised 40-year-old woman said the situation grew worse as the masked man continued to call, message and harass her almost every day. “This went on for months. A detective from the Phoenix SAPS called to tell me that the perpetrator wanted me to be present when he was being questioned, which baffled me because no one came out to speak to me firstly and it was absolutely insensitive. The detective did not ask me what happened nor did he make any further enquiries before the case was closed ‘due to insufficient evidence’. The very people who were sworn to protect me has let me down,” said Govender. She further added that she was victimised when she received a sms stating that her case was closed, leaving a known criminal loose to victimise another woman.
In a more recent incident, a 63-year-old grandmother of four and her 42-year-old daughter were also harassed by a masked man via WhatsApp video call. The elderly woman’s daughter contacted Reaction Unit South Africa (RUSA) requesting assistance to identify the serial perpatrator in the pictures. RUSA spokesperson, Prem Balram said: “According to the female, her sister received multiple WhatsApp messages from an unknown number requesting her to join a video call. He then attempted making several video calls which the 42-year-old declined.” Balram said the suspect thereafter made a video call from a different number. “When the female answered, she found a male in a red t-shirt touching himself. He disguised his identity with a mask. She then ended the call. He repeatedly called back when the female answered and recorded the incident from a second cell phone which resulted in poor image quality,” said Balram.
He said the following day, the man video called her elderly mother and when she answered, the same male in a ski mask was once again started doing the same thing. “Both females blocked the numbers, however they continued receiving video calls from different numbers. RUSA is in possession of a 52 second video that was captured by one of the females,” added Balram. The acting communications officer at Tongaat SAPS, Warrant Officer Manisha Maharaj-Marie said no cases has been opened with their station regarding the masked masturbator. She urged victims to seek help at their local police stations if they are going through similar situations. “All stations have a social crime prevention department, to whom this issue can be reported, should the complainant feel awkward to walk into the CSC and report the incident. Police stations also have social workers and victim friendly rooms attached to the social crime prevention department. There’s always help, you have to reach out and receive it. Bare in mind, keeping issues of this nature to yourselves would only negatively impact your life. Speak out,” said Maharaj-Marie. The Tongaat SAPS Victim Friendly Room can be contacted on 032 944 9932. Phoenix SAPS Communication Officer, Captain Louise Naidoo, confirmed that a case was opened at their station, however no arrests has been made yet.
