Female Judicial Caning

Normamby,

Thanks for this enlightening contribution.

The gang-leader of the girls I mention earlier was sentenced to 14 cuts (senior cane). She took those 14 strokes in her stride, only gulping for breath with each 1 landing, then blow it out again. The other girls / members of the gang were sentenced 7 cuts each ~ the 4 main members were also send to the reformatory school.

My mother worked in Aden as a nurse in the early 50s and recounted a story to me about 3 of her colleagues who had obtained some drink (alcohol was banned) and,under the influence) caused some damage in a public place. The actual judiciary was English and the y were sentenced to 12 strokes of the cane. The punishment was given ina room next to the court and they were required to raise their skirts and bend over a table,their hands held by a policewoman.They were caned across their knickers and all e told my mother that it was immensly painful. my mother saw their bottoms the following day and said that th marks were dreadful,thick purple weals across the whole of their seats. She told me that caning was very common in Aden at that time but mainly for locals. She had also heard of a woman who had been on an emigration ship to Australia and had been foun to have stolen money and she was taken ashore at Aden and received a caning.

Thank you Krol. Yes, now it makes totally sense.



Do you remember the Ref. school in Bloemfontein? It was called Tempie?

In my school 13 girls belong to a gang. They messed up the town and the church and ran away from school. When the police caught them on a neighbouring station, the police 'lities' was to light in the trousers and the girls donnerd them up. Because it was a small town(dorpie), they stopped the train and phoned us(teachers) to come to their aid. 4 of us (sterk manne) went to help them. We sorted them out - we know how!!, and brought them back to our town. At the police station in our home town, they cut their wrists!. To make a long story sort; 7 of them were sentenced to Tempie = tempi-tigers!!



Caning there was done by female wardens. My sympathy to your wife. I know that 'visentering/deursoeking' = ***** search ritual. I did myself (not to ladies). So yes, the whole thing is now clear to me. I'll tell you more, next time!

Thanks Oupa. I asked my wife who had been her school junior by quite a few grades in a round about diplomatic way. She can recall the incident in detail as it was the talk of the school at that time. The officer delegated to give the caning was not from the police services but the prisons services. Near her home town on the West Rand was a Department of Correctional Services reformatory school for juvenile female offenders. That is were the Public Prosecutor nominated a suitable Government woman officer experienced in meting out sound canings. A police woman was however also present to further certify to the Public Prosecutor the punishment had been carried out. At the time she was in matric so would have been 17years old. So there was quite an audience when she received her caning

My wife was a very good hockey player and played fixtures against the reformatory school. She recalls seeing many a well caned girls bottom in the change room and showers. Probably the very same handywork of that particular officer. My wife says she used to look forward to those fixtures with a mixture of dread and curiousity. It was a statutory requirement to ***** search any visitor at random for the smuggling in of illegal substances. In those days: dagga, cigarettes, miniture bottles of spirits etc. Apparently that ***** search envolved a pair of rubber glovesand followed by a very detailed inspection of brassiere linings, school knicker gussets etc.

Just the experience of her hockey visits to that institution put my wife off any criminal activity for life.

Does that make any more sense Oupa?

Krol, yes it is possible; but something bothers me. Female police officers were very rare in S.A. during the dates you are mentioning. It must been a big station in a city or very big town. The mother must be present as the guardian = fine. The rest sounds very plausible. We did almost the same with boys ( I'll tell you later more about that!)

If you can give me more detail, I'll might be able to confirm; eg. her age or school standard, the name of the town/city, was her mother single (divorced or something at the time?).