A group of men who videotaped their gang rape of a mentally handicapped teenage girl in South Africa has elicited widespread outrage in the country.

The 17-year-old victim, who lives in Bramfischerville, a suburb of Johannesburg, has apparently been raped once before, according to a report in South Africa’s Independent Online (IOL) news agency.

The girl was not only repeatedly raped by at least seven men, but their film of the sexual assaults (taken by cellphone) were distributed across the internet and even circulated in schools across Johannesburg.

The rape apparently occurred in a field in or near the town of Dobsonville.

IOL reported that the girl can been seen and heard crying, begging for the men to stop, while the rapists ignore her pleas, laughing, joking and egging each other on.

After footage of the video was delivered to police by local newspaper reporters, seven young men --- between the ages of 14 and 20 – have been apprehended. An eighth man, aged 37, was also arrested in connection with the case.

A spokesman for the National Prosecuting Authority told South Africa's eNews television that if the victim is determined to be mentally unstable, conviction could lead to possible life imprisonment for the defendants.

Government officials have also warned that people who possess or further disseminate the rape video may be prosecuted.

“Thank God my daughter is still alive, but I can’t live a life like this anymore,” the girl’s mother told South African media.

“I am happy to have her back in my arms.”

The incident has prompted shock and outrage across a wide swath of South African society.

“I’m very, very sad,” said prominent singer Yvonne Chaka Chaka.
“It’s outrageous. I’m very upset and very disgusted. Dobsonville is my home town. I don’t know what is happening in our society. Those young boys should be the ones protecting these girls. We need to help not only the girl but the perpetrators as well.”

Lulu Xingwana, South Africa’s Minister of Women, Children and People with Disabilities, declared: “In addition to the painful ordeal of rape she was forced to endure, she is now subjected to a second assault on her dignity. We must all spare a thought for this young girl.”

However, rape is very common in South Africa.

According to BBC, there were 56,000 reported cases of rape for the year ended March 2011 (the actually figure is probably much higher). Research by the Medical Research Council suggests that the actual number of rapes in South Africa may total 500,000 annually.

One in four adult men in the country admitted they have committed a rape at least once in their life.

A 2010 study led by the government’s Medical Research Foundation revealed that in Gauteng province (where Johannesburg is located), more than 37 percent of male respondents said they had raped a woman at least once in their lives; and almost 7 percent of the men surveyed said they had participated in a gang rape at least once.

Lesbians are particularly vulnerable to a sexual assault known as “corrective rape.”

Even more horrific, South Africa has one of the world’s highest incidences of rape of children and even infants.

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