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Cape Town — A Cape Town mother who was secretly live-streamed while expressing milk in an office at her workplace, has laid criminal charges against the man who allegedly set up the recording.

The man, employed by the University of Cape Town, has been suspended, the institution said.

The woman in a post on her personal blog wrote that she had been in what she had thought to be a safe, locked space where she expressed milk, when she noticed that she was being filmed.

“Over the past two weeks I have struggled with many emotions and questions. Mostly, I’m furious,” she wrote.

“I’m so incredibly angry that the act of me providing food for my baby was sexualised in such a cowardly way. That it was sexualised at all. I’m disgusted that we live in a world where mothers, no matter how they choose to feed their children, are victimised for being vulnerable. I’m frustrated that during unguarded moments, my own ridiculous internalised “isms” make me feel guilty about all of this.”

UCT spokesperson Elijah Moholola on Wednesday confirmed the employee’s suspension.

“The university is currently in the process of dealing with the matter in line with its associated processes,” he said.

Police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Andre Traut confirmed that a 38-year-old man was arrested on a charge of crimen injuria.

He appeared in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court on Monday following the incident on June 13. “It is alleged that the suspect invaded the privacy of the victim by viewing her with a hidden camera,” he said.

National Prosecuting Authority Western Cape spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila confirmed the suspect’s court appearance.

The matter was postponed for further investigation. – AFP