Cape Town - A man accused of raping his girlfriend’s seven-year-old daughter has called the little girl “a silly liar”. Odwa Nkololo, 30, faces two charges of rape and a charge of murder and kidnapping in the Western Cape High Court.
Nkololo is accused of raping his girlfriend’s daughter in March last year and a month later kidnapping, raping and murdering four-year-old Iyapha Yamile.
Dressed in a green jacket, Nkololo received death stares as he passed the Yamile family seated in the gallery as he made his way to the witness box. Nkololo admitted he was still in a relationship with his alleged rape victim’s mother and they have a two-month-old daughter together.
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His defence lawyer, Advocate Susanna Kuun, asked Nkololo to explain what happened on 24 March 2017, the day he allegedly raped the seven-year-old girl.
“I got back (home) from taking her mother to the bus stop and saw she was shaking and sweating. I then removed the blankets from her and removed her top and tights she had on so she could cool down and calm down. Once she was calmed I got into bed and went to sleep,” Nkololo testified.
Iyapha Yamile Picture: Supplied
The girl’s mother previously testified that the entire family slept in one bed. Nkololo says his girlfriend informed him about the rape allegation, but claims it’s all lies.
“She (girlfriend) told me I will not sleep because police are coming to arrest me. I waited, but no van arrived. It was almost a month and they never arrived. I never heard anything about it,” he said.
“Do you know what DNA is?” Kuun asked her client, who replied: “I heard about it.”
“DNA was found on the child’s panties and she says it’s yours. Can you explain how that could be?” Kuun questioned.
The suspect told the court: “We slept on the same bed. Maybe it was the sweat as I could have leaned against her.”
During cross-examination, State prosecutor Advocate Thabo Ntela hammered Nkololo on the fact that he could remember every detail of the day of the alleged incident but could not remember his own address, where he lived for two years.
“I only forgot the house number. There is nothing that wanted me to remember the address of the house,” Nkololo stated.
Ntela then said: “The victim testified in court you touched her private parts. You did it with your hands and she asked you to stop.”
But Nkololo said: “She’s lying, it’s not true. If you knew how silly that child is...”
The case continues.