Kimberley – Closing arguments will be presented to Northern Cape High Court Judge President Frans Kgomo on Thursday as the rape trial of Christiaan Cornelius Julies, draws to a close.
Julies is facing 34 rape charges, committed in various towns in both the Northern Cape and the North West province, over a period of four years.
He also facing an additional charge of sexual assault and attempted rape.
The rapes took place in Galeshewe, Ritchie, Olifantshoek, Upington, Kathu, Kuruman, Postmasburg, Pampierstad and Mafikeng from August 2011 until Julies’ arrest on February 22 2015.
Julies has pleaded not guilty to all charges against him.
The investigating officer, Captain Teboho Masebo, told the court on Wednesday that Julies had been positively linked to all the offences through the DNA of his semen.
Masebo said the police could not arrest the accused sooner as the areas where the crimes were committed were not concentrated.
During a brief continuation of Julies’s cross-examination, Kgomo questioned whether the accused was on the run.
“The investigating officer told the court that you (referring to Julies) were unemployed. What exactly were you doing in all these towns where the offences occurred ... were you fleeing?” asked Kgomo.
Jules denied this, stating that he was running several businesses in various towns.
“I am a South African citizen and have the right to travel to any place I want to. I often travelled in the past. I sold hats and cosmetics in several towns and employed people to sell these products to locals. I also delivered and collected merchandise from the hawkers,” Julies said.
Kgomo said he also found it strange that none of the complainants ever saw Julies prior to the attacks.
“You said you were conducting business in these towns, yet none of the complainants ever saw you dropping or collecting your merchandise from the people who you said you employed,” said Kgomo.
Julies again stated that the women had their own reasons for accusing him of the crimes.
He also pointed a finger at the media saying that reports about the incident may have spurred them on to lay charges, as they might have been unhappy with him.
“The complainants may have read articles about the incident and community members may have discussed the matter,” he said.
Kgomo said that Julies’ theory about the media’s influence was highly unlikely as the women were many miles from each other.
“According to the investigating officer, a name of the accused linked to these crimes was only released in February 2015. How would the women who were raped in August 2011, which is four years after the incidents occurred, conspire with someone who was raped in 2015? How would they claim that the sequence of events were exactly the same and the crime was committed by the same person when there was no identity of the perpetrator? Why would they all point you out as the perpetrator?” asked Kgomo.
The case continues.