NPA in dock over girl, 8, on the stand
● A day before the national crime figures detailed a surge in sexual offences, attention in the Pretoria high court was fixed on the testimony of a young rape victim.
Sitting in an adjacent room, and testifying in camera, she recounted in a clear voice how accused Nicholas Ninow followed her into the toilets at the Dros restaurant in Silverton, then raped her. She was seven years old at the time.
The state earlier opposed Ninow’s guilty plea, saying he had not fully disclosed what happened on September 22 2018.
The decision by the National Prosecuting Authority to call the victim to testify was met with outrage by some groups.
Dr Shaheda Omar, of the Teddy Bear Clinic, said putting children in a position to relive the horror of rape should not be an option.
“Coming to testify should be the last resort. In this case the state had witnesses.”
Omar said calling the child to testify might open deep wounds. “She has been grappling with this for over a year and I don’t think it was necessary to take her back to that negative experience.”
Omar said the child’s competent testimony did not translate to emotional wellbeing.
She said the justice system should prevent secondary victimisation. “We really don’t know what will happen afterwards. The thing about trauma is that we can’t measure it.”
Themba Masango, of the #NotInMyName movement, said although the organisation was grateful to the NPA, it was against the decision to put the victim on the stand, even though it was in camera.
“The accused has pleaded guilty to two counts of rape. We believe the state had enough evidence to secure a conviction and a harsh sentence.”
He said that after learning that the state intended to call the victim, the organisation told the NPA that it would be inhumane to make her go through the trauma again.
NPA spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane said the child was called to disprove Ninow’s version of events.
“The accused, in his version, said the child found him in the bathroom, so it was important for the state to call the child to testify about the sequence of events: that in fact the accused person followed the child to the bathroom.”
Patric Solomons of child rights group Molo Songololo said children’s testimony in courts was important.
“It must be afforded serious consideration and respected by the courts. It is reported that the Dros rape victim gave a very powerful testimony and that those who were in court were moved when the victim thanked the state for helping her,” Solomons said.
There were 24,387 reported cases of sexual offences against children in the 2018/19 statistics revealed on Thursday. It is an increase of 889 cases.