Rapist broke brick on woman
2008-06-05 21:30
Grahamstown - A man who has admitted he raped a woman told the High Court on Thursday he hit her so hard with a brick that it broke in half.
"I admit I hit her on the side of her head with a brick and yes, it was so hard, the brick broke in half, but I did not kill her," said Thembekile Mpambaniso, 29, of Molteno.
"She was alive when I left her and I did not think she would have later died."
Mpambaniso is on trial before Judge Clive Plasket for murder and rape.
He pleaded guilty to raping Boniwe Swelindawo, 56, at the Nomonde Shopping Centre, Molteno, on Christmas Day 2006.
Mpambaniso's plea of guilty to assault with the intention to cause grievous bodily harm was rejected by the State, and a plea of not guilty to her murder was entered into the court record.
Multiple blows to head
On his second day on the stand and giving evidence in his own defence, Mpambaniso insisted he had not killed the woman.
Queenstown-based Dr Siyabonga Jaqwa previously told the court the woman had died from multiple blows to the head, caused by blunt force trauma.
State advocate Joel Sesar argued that Mpambaniso should be convicted of Swelindawo's murder, "because he could have reasonably foreseen that by striking her on the head with a brick, he could have caused her death".
Judgment is expected to be handed down on Friday.
- SAPA