Prostitutes who work in Tembisa, Ekurhuleni, SA claim that a cop humiliates and hurts them and then takes their money.
The cop, a section manager at Olifantsfontein cop shop in Midrand, apparently sexually assaults them.
"We don't lie on a comfortable bed with nice sheets. We do the business in the bushes and we get thorns in our backsides," one prostitute said.
"We want this cop to leave us alone. We want him to be arrested for this."
A 36-year-old prostitute said the cop was on TV before for dragging a prostitute on the ground and beating her.
A case was opened but the women got no help from the cops.
"When we go to the station they tell us to go away because we are stinking or they arrest us," she said.
The women aged between 23 and 58 come from different parts of the country and charge between R15 and R50 a time.
The dreaded cop takes the little bit of the money they earn for himself and if he is in a bad mood, the women get beaten and spend a night in jail.
A 58-year-old prostitute, who is supposed to be on pension, said they do this work because they need the money.
"We don't do this for fun. We have kids to feed," she said.
"Its very embarrassing for someone my age."
The women complain that the cop makes them pay "tax" because they don't pay it to the government.
On Friday some of the women were arrested and some allegedly beaten by the cop and his friends.
"If you are unlucky enough to get caught, your clothes and your customer's clothes get burnt and the customer has to pay a R1 500 fine," said one of the women.
The women said the cop wants to own them so they can work for him and pay him.
"This man is making our lives impossible. We don't work for him," said one of the ladies.
Olifantsfontein Police Station's Colonel John Mosowe said no law enforcement members are allowed to turn away complainants.
"I have advised the ladies to open a case. This case and the one opened last year will be formally investigated," he said.
Source - Dailysun
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