Women’s rights groups in South Africa expressed outrage Thursday and criticized police for perceived failures after charges were dropped against 14 men accused of gang raping and robbing female members of a film crew at an abandoned mine in Krugersdorp, west of Johannesburg.
State prosecutors said there was insufficient evidence against the men to proceed with the case. The men, believed to be illegal miners, were arrested during a police raid at the mine after at least eight women were attacked and raped while they were filming a music video in July.
Reports of the rapes sparked violent protests in townships around Krugersdorp as community members accused the small-scale miners working in the abandoned mine shafts of committing the crimes.
The protesters also descended on the abandoned mines, blocking the holes the miners use to go underground and burning their makeshift tents and belongings. Miners were apprehended, assaulted and handed over to
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