Arthur Greene
After a man had allegedly raped a goat in a village near Elim, locals reportedly dressed the goat up and forced the man to “marry” it as a punishment for his crime.
When Lawrence Khodobo, the Louis Trichardt SPCA’s Senior Inspector, arrived at the village on 26 April to investigate a report of this crime, he quickly discovered that the incident had taken place a week earlier, on 19 April.
Instead of reporting the crime after it had taken place, villagers and the local headman dressed the goat up in a brown hat and a patterned scarf and forced the man to “marry” it in a wedding ceremony designed to humiliate the abuser.
The villagers’ failure to immediately report the crime had disastrous consequences, according to Alicia Thomas of the local SPCA, who spoke to Limpopo Mirror.
“We at our SPCA would like to send out this message and plead with the public to report any cases of animal cruelty to us, immediately. Time is of essence in these cases. We have to act within 24 hours of this horrendous crime taking place and the animal in question has to be examined by a veterinarian as soon as possible to obtain the necessary proof,” she said.
Thomas added that man accused of raping the goat has a history of sexually assaulting animals, and has previously been caught performing similar acts on multiple occasions.
Because the crime wasn’t reported to police in time, the man in question could not be charged with bestiality.
Instead, locals continue to exact their own form of punishment upon the individual.
“The sad part is, this man is married with children and everywhere his children now go, people are mocking them by making goat-like noises,” Thomas said.
Thomas also confirmed that SPCA has now taken the goat into care, and it is being well looked after.
Picture source: Limpopo Mirror
