Bitter Pill
For any mother of a teenage daughter, this will make for disturbing reading.
Article: Claire Montague-Fryer
Bitter Pill by Peter Church (Mercury)
If you are so inclined and you are willing to pay, you can request a young woman be brought to your door, late at night, in a very pliable and willing state for you to do whatever you want with. When you are finished, she is collected again and apart from some very disquieting physical symptoms will have no memory of the incident.
Yes, we're talking about the date-rape drug, Rohypnol.
A syndicate is in operation in Cape Town, that together with corrupt barmen, will drug a young woman and deliver her to sick-minded individuals to get their rocks off; the beauty being that as she cannot remember, she cannot lodge a complaint.
The excessive drinking culture among university students plays right into these predator’s hands, as many young girls are too embarrassed to report anything as they feel they were too inebriated to remember, and thus don’t realize they are victims.
Yes, very scary. And not in New York, but in Claremont.
My daughter is still a toddler, but while reading this novel, I suddenly had the urge to never allow her to enter a Cape Town nightclub when she hits her teens. I also found myself looking at the Mother City differently, and had my rose-tinted glasses firmly smashed.
The novel reads easily, and while I am glad I read it, I didn’t feel compelled to finish it, and really had to force myself.
An interesting, disturbing read.
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