Fearful students buy knives‚ pepper spray after campus rapes

Female students at the University of Fort Hare’s Alice campus are arming themselves with knives and pepper spray in what they believe is a fight for survival.

This drastic shift comes after a student said she was raped outside the campus on Sunday – the fifth reported case of campus rape since last year. A suspect was arrested on Monday.

Fearful women students told the Dispatch they were buying the notorious Okapi knives and they intended using them if they felt under attack.

Fear and anger were sparked by the apparent ease with which the attacker managed to chase his prey onto campus on Sunday night after the alleged rape - right under the noses of what the women say are ineffectual security guards.

Students said this proved the weakness of the security arrangements on campus.

“The security at the university is lax. We do not feel protected at all. We are not going to sit and wait to get raped or murdered‚ we are now fighting for our survival‚” said a number of students interviewed by the Dispatch.

A final-year agriculture student said after the incident on Sunday she called her parents and asked for money to buy a can of pepper spray and an Okapi knife.

“I don’t know how to use an Okapi‚ but I would definitely use it on someone who tried to rape or rob me. I would rather die fighting‚” she said.

UFH spokesman Khotso Moabi said it was unfortunate that students had to resort to such drastic protection tactics.

- DispatchLIVE

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