Uniting in support of rape girl
THE case against the 49-yearold man accused of raping a five-year-old girl was delayed because the accused could not participate in an identity parade. The man’s face was swollen from alleged assault by other inmates in holding cells.
The man was arrested after police were alerted by members of the public to the rape in progress of a little girl in the bushes near Kapteinsklip station in Rocklands.
It is believed that the girl knew the accused, and she had positively identified him before his arrest on August 20.
Police have hailed the child as brave for having the courage to lead them to the 49-year-old, HIV-positive man immediately after she said he had raped her.
Previously magistrate Alvira Bezuidenhout advised media, following the State’s request, not to publish the man’s picture until after the identity parade was conducted.
Yesterday, the courtroom was packed as the suspect made a brief appearance before the matter was postponed until September 6 for the identity parade to take place.
The man will remain in custody at the Mitchells Plain police station.
In another matter, a Tafelsig pastor appeared on charges of murder, two counts of rape which took place in 2014 and 2016, and intimidation and extortion, in the Mitchells Plain Magistrate’s Court yesterday
The case against Keith Bird, from Lost City in Tafelsig, Mitchells Plain, was postponed until October 18 for a formal bail application.
Defence advocate Afzal Vallie asked to peruse the summary documents supplied by the State for the intended bail application.
Bird will remain in custody at Pollsmoor prison until his next court appearance.
The pastor was arrested for the murder of Aniesa Bardien, 37, committed during January 2013. Bardien went missing from her home in Eastridge on January 7, 2013. Her decomposed body was found three months later in a shallow grave at Strandfontein beach.
Mitchells Plain Crisis Forum chairperson Joanie Fredericks said they were pleased with the progress on the rape accused case.
“We are happy that the State is doing what they can to ensure the investigation is done properly and thoroughly,” Fredericks said.