Boy, 9, says accused raped him twice

Published Aug 7, 2014

Share

Cape Town - A nine-year-old has testified how a man - who is alleged to have sodomised several boys - raped him twice in a short period of time.

The incident is believed to have taken place in a bushy area in Stellenbosch in September 2012.

The man accused of perpetrating the crime, Enoch Bothata Lefuthane, 37, is on trial before Judge Siraj Desai in the Western Cape High Court and is facing 15 charges stemming from incidents that took place between 2005 and 2012. He has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.

The incidents relate to five boys - four of whom were allegedly sodomised - who at the time ranged in age from 6 to 10.

One of the boys testified on Wednesday by video link and with the assistance of an intermediary, saying he was 7 when the incident took place.

He had been playing near his house with friends when a man not known to him had passed by and called them.

He and a friend had accompanied the man, who had given them R5 to buy cigarettes for him.

The boy had wanted to go with his friend to the shop but the man did not agree.

According to his testimony, the man had taken him into the “bush”, undressed him, made him lay on his stomach on a jacket on the ground and raped him.

When he had cried, the perpetrator would strangle him with his hands.

The boy claimed that after the man had stopped, they had dressed and then walked for a “very short” time before he had raped him again.

When asked about the rape, they boy said it had been “painful”.

He testified that during the second rape, two men had seen him, which sent the perpetrator running. He was caught, however.

A legal representative for Lefuthane stated his version of events during cross-examination of the boy.

The court heard that Lefuthane denied raping the boy and that he and the boy had been sitting under a tree when he (Lefuthane) had sniffed a powder - referred to in court as cocaine - before falling asleep. He had awoken when two men approached him, pelting him with stones.

The boy maintained that the man had raped him.

Under cross-examination, he also told of how the perpetrator had bought food for him and his friend, which they had eaten.

Lefuthane faces charges of rape, indecent assault, abduction, attempted murder and kidnapping.

The State alleges that the incidents took place in Stellenbosch, as well as in an area in Eastern Cape.

The trial continues.

Related Topics: