Tin Roof Argy Attack

Police are looking for five Argentinian rugby players wanted for questioning in connection with the indecent assault of a young woman and assault of her boyfriend at a Cape Town nightclub at the weekend. The players, from one of four South American club rugby teams visiting the city, were at the Tin Roof nightclub in Claremont on Saturday when the incident happened. On Wednesday, police spokesperson Andre Traut confirmed the investigation of a case of indecent assault and assault with the intent to cause grievous bodily harm after attacks on a 20-year-old woman and her 19-year-old boyfriend, who suffered a broken jaw.

He would not divulge any details about the suspects, but a police source confirmed that five rugby players were being sought. He said police had met one of the four Argentinian teams on Tuesday evening but the players linked to the incidents were not part of that team. The woman, a teaching student from Claremont, who asked not to be named, said she had felt humiliated when rugby players surrounded her in the nightclub and fondled her, laughing as they did so. Speaking to the Cape Argus on Wednesday, she said: "It was so degrading. I felt so scared."

The woman said she had been in the nightclub for only about 10 minutes when the incident happened."As I stood close to the dancefloor, a guy came and kissed me on the shoulder. I pushed him away and said 'What the hell are you doing?' "But he and his friends just started laughing and they surrounded me."They pulled at my clothing and touched at my breast, bum and body. My skirt came down and they were touching me. They had no right to do that to me."

She escaped and left the club to find her boyfriend. The boyfriend accompanied her back into the club and when she pointed out the culprits, one of the club's bouncers told the players to leave. "But they became very aggressive, refusing to leave. An argument erupted with these guys and the bouncer and they hit him too," he said. Her boyfriend, who had lived in Chile, approached the group, who told him in Spanish that they were members of an Argentinian rugby club. He then tried to unsuccessfully break up the fight. "All I remember is feeling a very painful blow to my jaw and I was out cold," he said."They were barbaric, carrying on like animals; it was disgusting."The rugby teams, from Argentina's capital, Buenos Aires, are scheduled to return to Argentina on March 19.