Three months ago – a Mitchells Plain woman ended a relationship with a man, and since then, he has been harassing her and her teenage daughter.
Not one day goes by when Najwa Bowers is not worried about what could go wrong in her life. If it’s not her car tyres being slashed, it’s messages on social media or sex videos making the rounds.
Bowers is sick and tired of her former partner and just wants everything to stop; she wants her life back to ‘normal’.
She told Action Society that she recently broke up with the man, Ronald Beukes, and thought he would leave her alone afterwards, but it seems he did not take it well.
“He started making videos about me talking about my private parts and saying I am psychotic. He then sent breast pictures to my daughter, shocking me,” she said.
Bowers said she then found out that sex videos were distributed to people.
“The videos are of two teens having sex. And what is alarming is that he tells people that it is my daughter and a close family friend of ours who is as young as my daughter. It is not them, obviously, but it is sick of him to do that. She is 13 years old; why is he doing this?” she said.
The woman showed Action Society the messages sent via Instagram where the unknown person told her about the videos. Bowers said the messages are from different accounts and continuously send threatening messages.
She said her daughter was held at knifepoint – and said when she’s at the school gates, a red dot shines on the uniform.
“I swear whenever something happens, she receives a message about what had happened, to a point where my daughter no longer wants to go to school as she has to deal with not only the video matter but also the threats,” she said.
Bowers said her daughter had started cutting herself with a blade.
“I can handle the threats and the harassment, but my daughter was not part of the relationship. So why is she being brought into it to get back at me? Goodness, it is ridiculous. I have been back and forth to the police station; at this stage, the policeman already knows who I am. However, in the cases I’ve made, there’s no movement, no communication. We have opened five cases at the police station already,” she said.
Action Society has been assisting Bowers over the past weeks, enquiring about the cases and meeting with the police officers involved with the matter. In addition, Action Society will walk the journey with the mother and daughter and assist them with the issue.
The suspect appeared in court on 21 September in a completely unrelated case – for being in possession of an unlicensed firearm.
