Rape Victim Deserves Compensation From Police - Nandor

Green Justice Spokesperson Nandor Tanczos today said a rape victim whose complaint to the police was ignored for 15 years was fully deserving of compensation from the police.

The complainant was raped by her employer in a Murupara shop nearly 20 years ago but police failed to investigate her complaint. It was only when police were investigating the same man for raping his three stepdaughters 15 years later that her complaint to Murupara police came to light.

"A report into this incident in 1996 by Detective Inspector Graham Bell noted that the complainant was known to the police and that her reputation was in part responsible for the 'woefully inadequate and uncaring' police response," said Nandor.

The Bell Report report noted that the complainant's report was not taken seriously by a 'lackadaisical and uncommitted' police officer.

"If it is good enough for the Police Commissioner to visit this woman and personally apologise to her for the appalling conduct of police at the time, then it is certainly good enough to compensate her for the prolonged and unnecessary suffering she has endured as a result," said Nandor.

"That suffering includes a range of physical and psychological problems that she believes are a result of being raped. It is quite possible that had her complaint been properly investigated in the first place that at least some of those problems could have been lessened.

"The police failed to investigate a serious complaint because they had preconceived ideas about the complainant. This kind of stereotyping is causing systematic problems in the police, from wrongful convictions to systematic intimidation to this latest case.

"Once again I repeat my call for an inquiry into police practice. "

Ends

© Scoop Media