Durban - A Durban spiritual leader who was given 15 years in jail for rape and other sexual offences, will have another shot at proving his innocence after the Pietermaritzburg High Court ruled on Tuesday that the trial start afresh.
Appeal court judges Peter Olsen and Mohini Moodley agreed that the trial be reheard in front of a different magistrate.
Cooper Reddy, 60, had his bail extended and must appear in the Durban Magistrate’s Court on December 10, for the case to be re-enrolled.
The judges said there were numerous problems during the trial, including the curtailment of cross-examination. However, they did not make any specific findings and did not go into the merits of the case.
Reddy, of Havenside in Chatsworth, was convicted on two counts of rape, indecent assault and sexual assault, and sentenced in July last year by magistrate Delia Turner.
The assault allegedly began in 2006, at his Chatsworth temple, when the complainant was 9, and continued until 2010. She complained of suffering from “tummy problems” and her mother took her to Reddy for spiritual healing. Her testimony was that he would sexually assault her in a room. Reddy denied the allegations.
His advocate, Adrian Collingwood, submitted that in September last year, after sentence had been passed, Judge Moodley brought an application to offer further evidence and asked the court to visit the alleged crime scene because the configuration of the temple was different to what was described by the complainant. It was denied.
He said there were irregularities in the proceedings.
The Mercury