Khumalo: Victim's mom weeps
2003-03-31 17:53
Johannesburg - A mother wept bitterly in the witness box on Monday at the rape trial of Gauteng chef Fanwell Khumalo as she told the Johannesburg High Court how her daughter went missing on October 17, 1998.
Evidence by the woman was that her daughter, then under the age of 10 years, went with a relative to buy cold drink around 08:00 that day. The relative returned alone an hour later not knowing where the little girl was.
The woman said she and others searched for hours for the child without success and about 11:00 she arrived home. The woman was about to report the girl missing when she showed up. The girl was crying and her clothes were dirty. The mother then found out that her daughter had been raped.
Khumalo has denied 132 charges including 42 of rape between 1998 and May 2001.
Giving evidence in court on Monday, the girl looked at Khumalo and said "I wish he could go to jail for life".
More young witnesses are due to testify when the trial resumes on Tuesday before Judge Max Labe.
- SAPA