'Rape case dropped, not story'
2004-01-23 10:05
Johannesburg - Salome Isaacs, who accused Judge Siraj Desai of raping her in India during a global conference has withdrawn the charge to end the matter, although she had been sexually assaulted, her lawyer said on Friday.
Gabriela Palacios told a radio station that her client Salome Isaacs "never said that her complaint of rape was untrue. She only said that she is withdrawing the charges to put an end to the matter."
Palacios said that Isaacs and her husband were tired of the "media circus."
However, Isaacs's husband had been the one who, the day after the alleged rape, contacted newspapers, television and radio stations and freely gave interviews.
On Thursday, in a dramatic turnaround, Isaacs - a 26-year-old Aids activist -- withdrew the charges in a statement put out by her attorneys Sihlali Molefe Incorporated.
Five-star hotel
The 53-year-old Desai, who was arrested on Monday after Isaacs alleged he raped her in a five star hotel in Mumbai, is due to appear in Mumbai's sessions court on Friday for a bail hearing.
Desai has been getting strong vocal support from South Africa, including from Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, who visited him in detention. She said she knew the judge as an "honourable man".
Desai and Isaacs had both been in the Indian financial capital to attend an anti-globalisation forum.
Isaacs had told Indian police the judge raped her in his hotel room when she went to meet him at 03:00 am Sunday to discuss the next day's events at the World Social Forum.
She told police that they had "cuddled and kissed" and that she had handed him a condom when he demanded sex. However she said she later rejected his advances.
The case has made waves in both India and South Africa and cast a shadow over the summit.