The man who repeatedly beat and assaulted Janelle Laattoe and two other women over the course of three years, appeared before the Blue Downs Magistrates Court in Cape Town on Wednesday, where the case was postponed to 22 January 2024 for plea and trial. He was charged in 2019 but was let out on bail. He was arrested again in 2022 where he has since remained behind bars.
“Abusers are still getting away with it in South Africa and just move on to the next woman. The accused, who had a relationship with all three women at different times over the years, physically assaulted all three of them. He was arrested last year and is still in police custody,” said Action Society’s Kaylynn Palm.
When we look at the abuse these women suffered, it is clear that the accused is a sick and violent man. According to Palm, Janelle was beaten to a point where she had a steel plate inserted inside her wrist, she also had to have some of her teeth replaced and he even tried to burn her with a soldering iron.
The second woman was assaulted last year to the extent that she was in and out of consciousness and suffered severe injuries to her face and arm. The third woman was assaulted and threatened in 2021.
Action Society first picked up the case of Laattoe in May last year, and we have had to fight tooth and nail as vanguards of justice in the lives of these women whose experience and trauma echo that of countless other women in South Africa.
“We will continue to support these women in their fight for justice. Serial abusers don’t change. In fact, the abuse gets worse over time. By standing up, these women are without a doubt saving the lives of the women who would get caught up with him in the future. That makes them heroes in our eyes,” said Palm.
