Johannesburg - An 18-year-old alleged victim of the 'Sunday rapist' tearfully described her rape to the High Court, sitting in the Palm Ridge Magistrate's Court in Alberton, on Tuesday.
“His words were that I should keep quiet or I'll get hurt,” she testified. The court has ordered that she not be identified. She testified in camera.
During her testimony, the court adjourned for five minutes to allow her to compose herself. The woman was giving evidence in the trial of Johannes Jacobus Steyn, who has been dubbed the “Sunday rapist”. Steyn is accused of murdering schoolgirls Louise de Waal and Lazanne Farmer.
He is also charged with 11 counts of rape, 10 of sexual assault, 10 of kidnapping, one of attempted sexual assault, one of attempted kidnapping, and two of assault. He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges. The 11 girls Steyn allegedly attacked between 2008 and 2011 were aged between 11 and 18. The woman who testified on Tuesday was 16 at the time of the attack.
She told the court she was on her way back from a cafe in Vanderbijlpark in February 2010 when a bakkie stopped in front of her.
Her disguised kidnapper pointed a gun at her and forced her into a white bakkie.
She told the court he pulled a balaclava over her head and drove her to an unknown location. He tied her hands to the passenger door's handle.
“He got onto my lap and pulled my pants down to my knees... He held my one leg in the air and got on top of me,” she tearfully explained.
After raping her, the man threw her T-shirt and bra at her and told her to get dressed. He told her he would let her go, but she was allowed to remove the balaclava only when he was gone. He then threw her out of the bakkie and drove off.
She ran to a nearby farm and was driven home by the owner.
When asked how she was coping after the rape, she answered: “I think about it a lot, and it feels like I can't trust anyone.” - Sapa