Waking up in bed with two gay men

30 Jun 2007- Durban, South Africa- In the wake of police highlighting the problem of men falling victim to date rape drugs, two Durban men have spoken about their horror ordeals after allegedly being "drugged, raped and robbed".

A 24-year-old Durban North man told The Independent on Saturday that he believed he was given date rape drugs on Sunday night and woke up the next day "in bed with two gay men" and with his car tyres slashed.

Another man, from Chatsworth, told how two weeks ago he picked up two women from a local mall and woke up the next morning in the back seat of his car with his possessions gone.

The Durban North man - whose name is known to The Independent on Saturday - told of his ordeal on Sunday night.

He and his father were at a braai at the Cowies Hill home of two acquaintances who invited him to a beachfront pub.

Once there, they were joined by a third man, whom he did not know. One of his acquaintances said he should give him R100 and he would get his drinks for the night. "He went to the bar quite often, bringing the drinks to me," the man said. The last thing he remembered was "dancing at about 11pm on Sunday".

"The next thing I remember was being naked in bed with both of them lying naked on either side of me at about 4am on Monday. There was a porn movie playing and we were in the master bedroom of the Cowies Hill home."

He said he then decided to make a quick getaway, but found all four of his tyres were slashed. In spite of this and suffering "extreme abdominal pains" he drove away and called his brother, who took him to hospital for various tests, including for HIV and Aids.

"We then went to the police to lay a charge of sexual and indecent assault."

Police were investigating the case, said SAPS spokesperson Superintendent Vincent Mdunge. He said male victims of rape needed to be assured that the police were "there to assist them".

The police have criticised men who pick up women in the streets "claiming not to know that they may be prostitutes", after the incident involving the Chatsworth man, who said he was a victim of rape and robbery on Saturday, June 16.

"I was at the Chatsworth Centre when I got friendly with two women aged about 20 and 21. We decided to go to a nearby bar. We were chatting and the last thing I remembered was buying them drinks.

"On Sunday morning I woke up in the back seat of my car at a car park near Ayesha Centre. My wallet containing R1 200 as well as my cellphone was gone. The car had a terrible stench of alcohol and dagga."

The man said he suspected he may have been raped. "I suspect a male was involved in this incident as I felt extreme pain in my abdominal area."

Captain Edmund Singh, communications officer at the Chatsworth SAPS, said men were to blame for these incidents as they very often picked up prostitutes. "Men need to realise there are repercussions of picking up strange women as this case shows.

"Men need to stop frequenting places that are often the hangouts for prostitutes. Many married men are soliciting these prostitutes and they don't report these incidents to us. We are not able to investigate these claims because we have no basis or reported cases."

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