KNYSNA policemen face an identity parade today after a 32-year- old Plettenberg Bay guesthouse owner was allegedly raped at the weekend after celebrating her birthday.

The woman was subjected to a two- hour ordeal in which she was forced to hide in the bushes and behind walls as her attackers hunted her down.

Southern Cape police spokesman Captain Malcolm Pojie said yesterday the investigation was “at an advanced stage”.

He said a senior official from the George- based Sexual Offences Unit would conduct an identity parade today and hold a news conference later in the afternoon. The ID parade would take place with the woman behind a one- way mirror.

“We cannot divulge the rank or any details of the police officials allegedly involved because it might prejudice the outcome of the ID parade,” he said.

Pojie said all the forensic evidence had been gathered and would be sent for testing.

“We are very upset and concerned about the implication of police officials in this crime and we will deal with the matter without prejudice or favour.”

The victim said yesterday she went to a Knysna restaurant to celebrate her 32nd birthday with close friends and family.

“We had a little argument and I walked across the main road to a shop for a breath of fresh air. I’d had a few drinks, but I was not intoxicated and I just thought I would take a walk and cool down as I didn’t want the argument to ruin my party.”

The woman said as she walked towards the shop at around 11pm, a police van approached.

“They drove past slowly and the driver rolled down the window and asked if I was okay. He wanted to know where I came from and where I was walking to, and if I was alone.

“At one point both he and the other policeman got out of the van and were talking to me in the parking lot. I didn’t have my bag or cellphone and I told them that I’d had a falling- out with my family and I wanted a lift back to my home in Plettenberg Bay.”

The woman said she felt safe because they were policemen and only realised later their questions had effectively determined her vulnerability.

She said she got into the passenger seat.

“Suddenly the driver leaned over and pulled my hair, pressing my head against the seat, and he held my arms down. The other policeman then raped me. It happened very quickly and I remember thinking I would not fight as that would make matters worse.”

The woman said when the policeman had finished, she jumped out of the car, pulled on her torn clothing and ran away as fast as she could.

“They didn’t expect me to run. The driver must have thought I would go around his side because he started circling to the back of the van but I ran straight at the guy who raped me. He was pulling up his pants and I darted past him, that’s how I got away.”

What ensued was two hours of extreme trauma as the woman tried to hide from her attackers, who apparently radioed other policemen to search for her.

“I hid behind trees and walls and bushes. It was absolutely horrific. I only realise now they must have told the other police I was some sort of suspect because it felt as if wherever I looked, police were patrolling up and down the street. I was terrified.”

She said she tried to return to the restaurant where her family was waiting but as she reached the area, her attackers drove past. She ducked into the alcove of an ATM machine and hid away.

“After that, I was so scared and traumatised, it seemed to me like every police van I saw was being driven by my attackers.

“I became confused and I kept wondering how they could be everywhere at once. It was a nightmare.”

Avoiding police, she eventually managed to make a 4km trip to a friend’s house outside the town.

“My friend called the Rape Crisis Centre and they told her to take me to the provincial hospital. When I was waiting at the casualty ward, a policeman came in and asked if a woman had come in reporting a rape.

“The security guard said no. It terrifies me that they came looking for me. What were they going to do to me?”

She said the police investigator from George had been “absolutely fantastic”.

“When Knysna policemen came to take my statement, he chased them away and said under no circumstances would anyone from Knysna investigate the case.”

The officer took her back to the scene of the crime and she only got home at noon on Sunday.

“I am very bruised and tired, so I’m staying in bed. And I’m on anti-retrovirals which make me feel absolutely awful. I’m with my family, my husband of 14 years, and my mother-in-law is coming to look after me,” said the woman, herself the mother of a young child.

Putting on a brave face despite the trauma, she said: “I will get through this.”