Rape claim: Lerato Moloi responds

MODEL Lerato Moloi has addressed the rape allegations she made against comedian Tol Ass Mo.

The model and actress accused the comedian, whose real name is Mongezi Mahlangu, of sexual assault and rape, which she alleges happened while they were working on a production together.

In a statement released through her lawyers, Moloi said she will not be silenced.

“For many years, I have been battling to find the courage and support to speak up against a number of acts of violence which have happened to me.

“In 2014, I was sexually assaulted and raped by Mongezi ‘Tol Ass

Mo’ Mahlangu while working on a television production in Paarl, Western Cape.

“For numerous reasons, I did not open a case at the time and only shared this experience with one of the other participants on the show,” she said in the statement.

The star said the assault had left her with emotional scars for six years.

She said after she shared bits of the experience on social media, she was met with attempts to silence her.

In the statement, she said: “In the past two months I have been served with letters from his attorneys to remove my tweets.

“A protection order was then applied for against me along with an interim order demanding that I delete my tweets and effectively attempting to silence me just after I found my voice. This culminated in an arrest warrant being issued against me and my subsequent imprisonment.”

Moloi thanked everyone who has supported her and ended the statement by saying “the days of silence are over”.

Since these allegations came to light, BET Africa also pulled a planned interview on Behind The

Story with Pearl Thusi following social media outrage.