Rape accused ‘not racist’ but denied bail

A 45-YEAR-OLD man accused of raping his parents’ domestic worker and forcing her to perform sexual acts on his dog was denied bail by the Bronkhorstspruit Magistrate’s Court, east of Pretoria, yesterday. Magistrate David Shikwambana delivered his judgment to a fully packed courtroom.

He said his decision to refuse bail was partly due to the accused having not proved exceptional circumstances showing why he should be released on bail.

Shikwambana accepted the argument presented to the court earlier by the accused’s lawyer, Ehleketani Maluleke, that the offences allegedly committed against the 41-year-old victim were not racially motivated.

She supported her argument by saying the accused was married to a black woman who died of natural causes in December 2005. Maluleke presented a document to the court from the Department of Home Affairs confirming the marriage.

The magistrate said: “This man is not a racist as I look at him. That is why he was married to a black woman. I’m satisfied the (bail) application may not be of a racist nature.”

Shikwambana said another reason for his decision was that he took into account a fact raised by State prosecutor Tiisetso Leballo earlier that community members would be outraged and take the law into their own hands if the accused got bail.

The man is facing 10 charges including rape, sexual assault and malicious damage to property. He was arrested in November last year. The incident allegedly happened in Riamar Park, Bronkhorstspruit, on October23. The matter was postponed to April 24. – African News Agency (ANA)