Lekhetho Ntsukunyane
Peter Frederiksen—the Danish businessman currently in remand prison in South Africa—might not be the monster he has been made to appear, according to information gathered by the Sunday Express.
Frederiksen grabbed international headlines when South African police raided his Bloemfontein home last month and found genital tissue from 21 women, in his freezer. The police also found surgical equipment, pornographic videos and footage of Basotho women undergoing traditional circumcision in the mountains of Lesotho.
It is suspected the tissue found in the freezer belongs to Basotho women because of the labels on the different sachets containing the vaginal flesh.
Frederiksen (63) operates firearm shops in Maseru and Bloemfontein and was once married to a Mosotho woman from Naledi.
The international media has since speculated the flesh in question could have been removed from unsuspecting women Frederiksen first drugged before he removed their vaginal tissue while they were unconscious.
However, investigations by the Sunday Express have since revealed the genital tissue was from sex-workers who voluntarily went for the surgical procedure to enhance their sexual appeal.
According to Frederiksen’s friend who spoke to the Sunday Express on condition of anonymity, the so-called mutilation was but ordinary circumcision popular among certain African communities.
The friend also told the Sunday Express on Tuesday that the women actually paid for the surgical procedure and are outraged at their benefactor’s arrest. The Sunday Express was also told the same women are considering testifying in Frederiksen’s defence when he appears again in the Bloemfontein High Court.
Frederiksen faces three charges of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, one charge of assault involving a minor, possession and manufacture of child pornography, removal of human tissue in contravention of the Health Act and bigamy. The accused allegedly ‘married’ the Lesotho woman while he already had a wife in Denmark.
Frederiksen’s friend told the Sunday Express in Maseru: “When Frederiksen made his first court appearance on 17 September, I attended it and met two Basotho women who boldly told me that they had come to show support for the man who had changed their lives for the better. The women said they had since relocated to Bloemfontein where their clients are quite happy and paying them lots of money all because of Frederiksen’s circumcision.”
Asked why Frederiksen kept the tissue in his freezer, the friend said: “From what I was told, the pieces were supposed to be preserved for as long as their owners were still alive. You can only destroy or dispose of any of the pieces if you are sure the owner has passed away. That explains why the pieces were clearly marked with the owner’s name to make sure there was no mix-up.”
A Danish newspaper, BT, has since reported Frederiksen previously openly discussed practising female genital mutilation with a local journalist, Jorn Starry.
In interviews with the journalist, Frederiksen is said to have admitted to performing genital mutilation “and claimed to have been taught by controversial Danish plastic surgeon Jørn Ege Siana. Frederiksen claimed: ‘I met him at Skodsborg Strandvej for dinner. And I said I might have a customer for you. I know a girl in Copenhagen and she’d love to have cosmetic intervention, but she would want me to make it”.
According to BT, that was when Frederiksen was shown how to carry-out the procedure by Dr Siana.
Dr Siana is well-known in Denmark for running a beauty clinic specialising in breast-augmentation and penis-enlargement.
After the clinic went bankrupt in 2004 following some unhappy customers reporting their grievances to the authorities, Siana was convicted of aggravated fraud and weapons crimes a year later.
He fled to Greece, but returned in 2009 and was sentenced to two years in prison. While behind bars, he was also convicted of planning an art theft and lost his medical licence in Sweden and Denmark due to a forgery conviction.
However, at the end of May 2012, Dr Siana got his Danish licence back and two weeks later, the Swedish authorities also allowed him to practice medicine in Sweden.
The South African police have since asked Frederiksen’s alleged victims to come forward with information, while the Lesotho police would not comment on the case.
Frederiksen, who has since abandoned his bid to be released on bail, is expected back in court on 7 December after the case was remanded pending further investigations.
Comments are closed.