Victim's brave testimony marks start of trial against Paarl rapist

The trial of Achmat Alexander, the "Paarl photographer rapist," started at the Paarl Regional Court this week.

Alexander is accused of drugging and raping a 19-year-old woman in 2021. 

Civil rights organisation, Action Society, has supported the victim, who is now 22, for over three years and released a statement about her brave testimony in the Paarl Regional Court.

According to the testimony, she was instructed to bring three outfits.

She recounted being pressured to travel to an isolated location with him, where he bought alcohol, claiming it would make her "comfortable".

After she reluctantly drank half a glass of tequila and cranberry juice he prepared, Alexander took her phone, ordered her into the car, and raped her despite her repeated refusals, she told the court.

She said after the ordeal, he continued the photoshoot as if nothing had happened, and they moved between locations and then he dropped her off with the chilling instruction: "Say nothing, because nothing happened".

Feeling lost and terrified, the victim confided in her best friend, then her father four days later.

They reported the crime, and she was examined at the hospital.

Kaylynn Palm, head of Action Society’s Action Centre in the Western Cape, praised the woman for her courage.

"Her courage in reliving her trauma on the stand is nothing short of extraordinary. We have stood by her since her family first called on us for help, and we will continue to fight for justice alongside her. This is not only her fight, but the fight of every survivor who has been failed by a broken system and silenced by fear or shame. Justice must prevail."

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