Bail hearing of KaMdladla man accused of rape postponed
He is accused of raping the minor while her mother was asleep in the same room.
A 36-year-old man appeared before Tonga District Court on Tuesday for allegedly raping his girlfriend’s five-year-old daughter. He was arrested a day after the mother opened a case for him at the Tonga Police Station on October 29. He is accused of forcing the minor to perform oral sexual acts on him while the mother was asleep in the same room.
It was also found during the bail hearing that his lawyer had withdrawn from the case, while the investigating officer was also changed. His matter was handed over to a legal aid attorney, leading to a brief adjournment on the case.
The family of the victim, together with the ANC members in support of the case, were left astonished and heard murmuring after the prosecutor told the presiding magistrate that the State would not be opposing the suspect’s bail application.
“We were so shocked that the State would be fine with this man getting bail and brought back to society after such hideous acts. We later found out that the docket which was given to the court contained false information. This was also confirmed when the prosecutor gave reasons why they were not opposing bail initially. It was only after learning the truth that the prosecutor stated that the state would now be opposing bail,” said ANC’s Zandile Shungube.
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It is also alleged that the document had initially stated that the suspect lives far away from the victim, and the mother did not have a problem with him being given bail.
This is why we want to assure the victim and the family that we will support them, when it comes to justice – we will leave no stone unturned. We do not want him to be given bail.
“We have been with the mother since the beginning of this ordeal and she assured us that she never said such a thing. We have also found that both the suspect and victim’s homesteads are very close in proximity, which means the docket presented to the court today had nothing but false information that would have jeopardised the case. This is why we want to assure the victim and the family that we will support them, when it comes to justice – we will leave no stone unturned. We do not want him to be given bail,” she added.
We are here to support the mother. Had we not stood up for her this man would now be walking back home, something we are clearly against.
Shungube also added that the investigating officer of the case wrote down that the crowd singing outside court was in support of the accused.
“We went to inquire and I saw what was written in the docket. It stated that the ANC members chanting outside are here to support the accused. We would never do that. We are here to support the mother. Had we not stood up for her this man would now be walking back home, something we are clearly against,” said Shungube.
The case was postponed to Monday, November 25 for further investigations and the bail applicant to find an alternative residential address.
