NELSPRUIT – A 22-year-old man accused of raping a woman in her flat in Hunter Street last year briefly appeared in court again last week.
The man who cannot be identified until he pleads in court, appeared briefly last Friday in the Regional Court on charges ranging from attempted murder to rape. The matter was postponed for further investigation until June 6.
Last year, on February 13, women across the country wore black to unite against rape and women abuse while – at the same time – a 23-year-old woman was apparently brutally assaulted and raped in her flat by the accused.
It all started on that day when she arrived home at about 18:30. The accused had apparently waited for her in a nearby bush and hit her over the head when she unlocked her door. He pushed her inside where he allegedly raped and tormented her. It is alleged he hit her with a firearm in the face repeatedly. He also apparently tied her up wire coat hangers and locked her inside the flat before fleeing the scene.
The woman managed to untie herself, knocked out a window with a pot and ran to the neighbours for help.
Bossies Community Justice, Hi-Tech Security Nelspruit and the police responded.
Her nightmare was exacerbated when she was refused treatment at Mediclinic Nelspruit. She waited hours for help that would never come. According to her mother, the doctor refused to attend to her daughter. He was a locum from Johannesburg and was apparently not prepared to examine her to confirm if she had been raped. “A lot of doctors refuse to do this because they are not prepared to testify in a criminal hearing,” a medical sister who wished to remain anonymous, told Lowvelder.
Yet the nightmare for the victim continued as, when the accused was first arrested, the first state prosecutor couldn’t charge him with the crime yet as there was not enough evidence against him, even though he’d made a certain pointing out to the police.
He was later charged but due to this, is still out on a warning. State prosecutor Ms Elise du Plessis said it was thanks to WO Adriaan Odendaal and WO Anita Horn’s investigations that he was indeed later charged.
