WEDNESDAY, 2.30PM
A CAPE Town schoolgirl has been awarded R70 000 in damages for emotional anguish suffered at the hands of her mother’s lover, who raped her repeatedly from the age of nine to 12.
The girl sued the rapist in a civil case after he was jailed for seven years in 1995 for the crime. The case sets an important precedent as it is the first to make an award for pure emotional damages, after the way was opened for such cases by the new Constitution.
“The law has shied away from granting judgment for pure emotional shock,” the girls’ attorney Craig Delport siad. “Traditionally you could only sue for anguish if the claim were linked to physical harm and actual loss. Wome must be encouraged to make their attackers pay.”