Monica Laganparsad and Teneshia Naidoo
Woman told family cops would not protect her before husband shot her in front of her kids
For months, mother of two Berisha Reddy had been telling friends and family that her abusive husband was plotting to kill her and that his policemen friends would not protect her.
Last Saturday, Narseem Desmond Reddy shot her several times in front of their two daughters as she fled from their Northdale, Pietermaritzburg, home and then turned the gun on himself.
The couple had a history of domestic violence. In February, Berisha sought a protection order against her construction manager husband, accusing him of physically and sexually assaulting her and asking the court to confiscate his gun.
In a responding affidavit, Narseem denied the allegations.
When he violated the conditions of the protection order, she went to her local police station in a bid to have him arrested.
After family intervention, they attempted a reconciliation in June, but in recent months the relationship again soured, culminating in last Saturday's tragic shootings.
Pietermaritzburg SAPS spokesman Senior Superintendent Henry Budhram said the case was complicated because of the couple's history of domestic violence and attempts to serve protection orders against each other.
He said Berisha's allegation that Narseem was being protected by policemen friends was hearsay.
Berisha's death followed an application by a Johannesburg woman who fled the country to seek legal asylum in the UK because she claimed police couldn't protect her from her abusive husband.
The woman — believed to be the first to secure asylum as a South African refugee of domestic violence — sought assistance from the UK Refugee Legal Centre.
Her UK-based attorney, Neil Walden, said: "She moved from Johannesburg to Cape Town, but her husband managed to find her through his police contacts.
Walden commissioned a gender and legal specialist, Angelica Pino of the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR), to submit a report on the domestic violence situation in the country.
Pino concluded that the government was not able to effectively implement the domestic violence legislation owing to corruption and a lack of resources in the SAPS.
The UK tribunal found that while SA had the correct legal mechanisms in place, they were ineffective, and it granted the woman's application in January.
According to the Independent Complaints Directorate's 2007/2008 annual report, 3% of complaints received related to SAPS non-compliance with the Domestic Violence Act, which prescribes the intervention and assistance policemen should offer abused women and men.
failed to execute warrants of arrest,
|
Anshu Padayachee, co-founder of the Advice Desk for the Abused, said: "Our legislation is good and it's ahead of its time. But we need to teach police and court clerks how to go about implementing these acts." — [email protected] and [email protected]
In The Times |
CSVR is a multi-disciplinary institute that seeks to understand and prevent violence, heal its effects and build sustainable peace at the community, national and regional levels.
