A 17-year-old girl, who handed herself in to South African police, is expected to appear in court, accused of killing a man who allegedly tried to rape her.<\/p>\n
“She was on her way to a local tavern when she was allegedly attacked by the deceased and fought back,” police colonel Moatshe Ngoepe told the BBC.<\/p>\n
The young woman stabbed the 21-year-old man, after overpowering him during a struggle, police say.<\/p>\n
South Africa has one of the highest incidences of rape in the world.<\/p>\n
The suspect, who is a minor under South African law and cannot be named, would be assigned a social worker and possibly a trauma counsellor to assist with the case, according to the police.<\/p>\n
“She was visibly distraught when she arrived at the police station and will receive the necessary care given in such cases,” said Mr Ngoepe.<\/p>\n
The woman will appear in court in Tzaneen, a small town in Limpopo province near the village where the incident took place.<\/p>\n
She is expected to tell the court that she acted in self-defence.<\/p>\n
The BBC’s Pumza Fihlani says such pleas must pass a high legal threshold to be accepted, with the defendant having to prove that there were extenuating circumstances involved and that killing was the only option available at the time.<\/p>\n
South Africa’s laws on self-defence have faced criticism in the past, with some legal analysts saying the law should offer more support to those forced to fight off attacks in a society with a high crime rate.<\/p>\n
But some legal scholars have argued it is precisely because of this high crime rate that people should not be able to kill others with impunity and self-defence pleas should face high hurdles.<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A 17-year-old girl, who handed herself in to South African police, is expected to appear in court, accused of killing a man who allegedly tried to rape her. “She was on her way to a local tavern when she was allegedly attacked by the deceased and fought back,” police colonel Moatshe Ngoepe told the BBC. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[107],"tags":[1892,8104],"yoast_head":"\n