Home » Rhodes Student’s Suicide Shocks South Africans: “No One Deserves to be Raped”

Rhodes Student’s Suicide Shocks South Africans: “No One Deserves to be Raped”

The tragic death by suicide of a young 23-year-old Rhodes student, Khensani Maseko, has rocked South Africans around the country who took to Twitter to reveal how upsetting they found her death, despite many not knowing her personally. Maseko’s passing has touched so many – in a month that women are meant to be being celebrated […]

By Jenni Baxter
06-08-18 13:24
in Eish!

The tragic death by suicide of a young 23-year-old Rhodes student, Khensani Maseko, has rocked South Africans around the country who took to Twitter to reveal how upsetting they found her death, despite many not knowing her personally.

Maseko’s passing has touched so many – in a month that women are meant to be being celebrated – because her suicide comes after she was raped, and had sunk into depression.

“I may not know you, but your death has cut me so deep. No woman, under any circumstances, deserves to be raped. Rest In Power Queen,” wrote one.

There appears to be no tribute on the Rhodes website to Maseko, but according to reports, Maseko had been raped in May this year by the boyfriend she “loved and trusted”. He has been named on social media as a Durbanite and fellow Rhodes University student.

One Twitter user wrote: “It affected her well being and she couldn’t cope. So she took her own life. But it was in fact her then boyfriend S* from Rhodes who took her life. Justice has not been served.” (*SAPeople has chosen not to publish the alleged rapist’s name.)

Maseko was born in 1995 and was a natural born leader, who served in the SRC at Rhodes University. She was a law student and apparently in the third year of a BA. Many knew her and took to Twitter to express their shock. Last year she was crowned Miss Varsity Shield 2017/18. She was also on the 2018 Rhodes Independent Electoral Board and Chairperson of KNM.

Reminders were posted on social media to “check on your strongest friends” and Maseko’s own tweet – which she posted on the day she died – went viral: “When people ask for help.. help them.”

One of the saddest elements of Maseko’s passing is the messages that she posted on social media – a suicide note of sorts. A week ago she was feeling ambitious and wrote “one day I’m going to give a TED Talk that will shake tectonic plates”.

But days later, on Friday 3 August 2018, she posted this:

It was followed by a photo with her grandmother saying: “Gogo, the bond between us is so deep. Heard your voice just now and I know your spirit knows what mine feels?”

And then her final message, which included her date of birth… and date of death:

She captioned the post, in capitals: “No one deserves to be raped!!” Later on Friday afternoon, she died at her family home in Joburg.

One Twitter user said: “An entire human being waking up and deciding that it’s her last day on earth because a man thought he had ownership to her womanhood…” Another added: “But why do men see us as their playground, as their toys, as their ripe fruits???”

There were calls for men to engage in “partnership not ownership” and for men to just “Stop it!”

Many called for a stand against the high rate of rape and abuse of women in South Africa, questioning why men have such disrespect when all have originated from a woman, their mother.

Some suggested all women should carry pepper spray, and one man – Moses Maibelo – admitted: “The rate at which women in SatAfrika are being raped, I’m little scared to give birth to daughter or son not knowing one will be a victim or suspect. I’m scared to have kids. Black men we must change cause it starts with us. #RIPKhensani.”

One woman confessed she had been raped by two unknown men three years ago… “and that affected me so badly I suffered from #Depression. I remained this happy girl in front of people, I smiled a lot and they didn’t notice the scars I carry.”

For everyone who pointed out that instead of society teaching women how not to get raped, we should be teaching men not to rape, Leungo Noge (@LeungoNoge11) posted these tips for men:

Other posts and opinions on social media included the following:

https://twitter.com/MarcoZacchino/status/1026060965228568576

https://twitter.com/mbals21/status/1026135442004078593

https://www.instagram.com/p/BmBDtNglyZh/?taken-by=_khensani_

https://twitter.com/ZintleNxoyi/status/1026115819686776832

UPDATE: According to EWN, Rhodes SRC’s Nhlakanipho Mahlangu said: “We know the amount of promise she had to offer us all, I mean to offer the entire country. We’re very shaken, it’s a very difficult time for us as the SRC and we wish her family all the strength and support that we can.”

IMPORTANT ADVICE AND NUMBERS (Source: Twitter)