Rhodes Park survivor faints after testifying

Rhodes Park in Kensington. Picture: Chris Collingridge

Rhodes Park in Kensington. Picture: Chris Collingridge

Published Oct 25, 2016

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Johannesburg - After an hour of not shedding a tear, the woman who survived an attack at the Rhodes Park in Kengsington, Johannesburg a year ago, cried uncontrollably and fainted on Tuesday, after giving her testimony at the High Court sitting at the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court.

Earlier, she explained how she was sexually assaulted before her husband and his friend were made to march naked in a dam where they drowned.

The woman, who cannot be named, told the court that the ring leader was angry when he realised the group did not have money and said “blood has to be spilled”.

The woman together with her husband and another couple were attacked allegedly by a large gang of men at a park on the evening of October 17, 2015.

She explained that while the rest of the group left, the ring leader and another one stayed behind. She told the court the ring leader raped her while the other man also tried to force himself on her friend.

“The lady told me that she wasn’t raped because the man couldn’t get his penis to penetrate her vagina,” she said.

“After the ordeal, the men left us and we screamed out our husbands’ names but they never responded. I wiped myself with my torn panties and left them there,” she said while wiping tears.

She told the court that they managed to get help but only learned about her husband’s death the next day.

“This has really traumatised me, I was hospitalised from October until January this year, sometimes I experience episodes where I wake up at hospital and don’t know how I got there.”

Judge Papi Masopa asked her a few questions before she left the stand and fainted afterwards.

Counsellors rushed to her aid and tried to revive her. She was taken outside the court where she continued crying uncontrollably.

The matter was postponed to Wednesday.

Thabo Nkala, 25, Admore Ndlovu, 23, and Mduduzi Mathibela Lawrence, 32, have all pleaded not guilt on the charges of rape and murder.

They face charges of assault, robbery, rape, sexual assault, and murder.

According to their charge sheet, the group, armed with a gun and a knife, forced their victims to lie on the ground. They used a knife to cut off the panties of both women. They raped one and sexually assaulted the other.

They forced their partners to undress and forced them into the lake, where they drowned. The gang stole their clothes, jewellery, and cellphones.

African News Agency

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