Durban - An advocate says allegations that he indecently assaulted and raped a relative are “absolutely not true”, and have left him and his family in a “general state of depression, shock and anxiety”.
Testifying in his own defence at the Durban High Court on Thurday, Mayakisten “Mike” Govindasamy, once an acting judge, told the court that the complainant and circumstances in the days after the alleged offences had been “normal”.
“I couldn’t understand or believe what was happening when I learnt of the charges against me,” he said.
The senior advocate took the stand after his bid to have the matter discharged was denied by the court.
He recounted in detail how a spare bedroom, one of three bedrooms in his house, had been prepared for the relative in 2007, when the indecent assault allegedly took place.
He described the family as very close; so close that when the relative, distraught about two recent family deaths, asked to sleep between him and his wife because she loved them both, they let her.
When the family returned from a week-long holiday in the Free State, the relative asked to visit their home.
As the hours passed and she had not arrived, Govindasamy said he made several calls to her and her father out of concern and irritation before sending a final message that he was going to bed.
Some time later, he was awoken by the “bubbly and perky” relative asking him to come into the lounge, where his family surprised him with a party. When it ended, she clung to his arm while the logistics of getting everyone home was discussed.
“My wife asked her if she wanted to come along for the ride, and she said ‘yes’.”
On the drive back, the complainant received a phone call, said Govindasamy. “I gathered she was speaking to someone pursuing her to come back to some club she was working in (in Cape Town).”
He told the court he felt very uncomfortable as the conversation continued along the lines of her being “hot and in demand”.
Govindasamy said that when he asked her about it, she told him she worked as a “tequila girl”, laughing at his ignorance of not knowing what that was. He said she told him she wore “skimpy, seductive outfits and went around serving tequila to patrons at the club”, he said.
The 57-year-old advocate broke down, crying as he testified that the relative had told him that patrons would put money in her bikini top.
“I was in absolute shock and could not imagine any of my own children engaging in anything of this sort.”
He would not be swayed by her “sulking” and decided he would tell her father, despite her protest that he would “kill her” if he knew.
At home, his wife had prepared a mattress on their bedroom floor for the relative to sleep on, because their sons occupied the other two bedrooms.
They were awoken by his wife’s 4am alarm the next morning as she prepared to go to prayer about five minutes’ drive from the home.
Govindasamy picked up a book and read in bed while the relative, although disturbed by his wife’s movements, continued to sleep, the court heard.
His wife came back about an hour later. She was in and out of the bedroom before leaving again, at which stage at least one of their sons was awake and about.
It was during this time, between 6am and 7am, that the alleged 40-minute rape occurred.
The family, including the complainant, had then gone to the beach and a shopping mall, before the woman’s father came to pick her up in the early evening.
Walking them out with his wife, Govindasamy said they had hugged goodbye, and things were “normal”.
He said his wife was particularly hard hit by the allegations, which were splitting the family down the middle.
Govindasamy is due to be cross-examined by the prosecution when the trial resumes later this year.