Underwear thieves undermined an anti-rape event organized by South Africa's Democratic Alliance

BBC News:

The DA hung out 22,486 pairs of girl's underwear, representing the annual number of child rapes, in Cape Town's Bishop Lavis township.

The idea was to distribute the panties afterwards, but some members of the crowd rushed in and grabbed them before DA leader Tony Leon arrived.

The stunt was part of the annual 16 days of action against gender violence.

"The crowd jumped the gun because people were afraid that if they waited they would not get one," Mr Leon told The Star newspaper afterwards.

"This just highlights the desperation of people there - they wanted to make sure they got some panties."

Bishop Lavis is situated in Cape Town's poor and crime-ridden Cape Flats region.

Throughout South Africa, 55,000 rapes are reported each year and many more go unreported.

Crowd plunders DA's anti-rape panty show

Leon: Women 'most likely target of crime'

DA reveals shocking child rape figure

DA focuses attention on 22 486 child rapes

Mother of Two Tells of Her Aids Nightmare