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South Africans Outraged After Cops Drop Charges Against 14 Men Accused of Gang Rape

DNA results could not tie the men to the rape of eight women who were attacked while filming a music video, prosecutors said.

Charges against more than a dozen men accused of gang rape in South Africa were dropped on Thursday, sparking outrage from activists who criticized potential police failures. The incident occurred in late July, when 14 men allegedly robbed and raped eight women who were filming a music video at an abandoned mine in Krugersdorp, nearby Johannesburg. The attack shocked the region, and incited a mob against the men, who were believed to be illegal miners. Protesters lobbed machetes, golf clubs and hammers at the alleged rapists, and personally apprehended men at a makeshift camp outside the mine, handing them over to the police. Authorities initially arrested more than 80 men for the assault before narrowing the charges down to the 14, but the charges were dropped due to inconclusive DNA results which could not tie the arrestees to the crime, according to South Africa’s National Prosecuting Authority.