Elderly victims bit rape suspect

2008-01-30 20:07

Grahamstown - A 28-year-old man accused of raping and attempting to rape five elderly women was bitten on the finger and lip by two of them, the Grahamstown High Court heard on Wednesday.

Mcebesi Noji, of Nkululeko, Barkly East, is on trial for two counts of housebreaking with intent to rape and rape, two counts of housebreaking with intent to rape and attempted rape, and one count of rape.

Appearing before Judge Elna Revelas, in a trial that began in November last year, Noji has pleaded not guilty, and on Tuesday claimed he "was sexually dysfunctional".

He also claimed he had "not had an erection since 2001".

The alleged rapes happened on June 3 and 17 2006, and one rape and two attempted rapes are alleged to have been committed on October 7 the same year.

The youngest woman was 54 and the oldest 65.

Barkly East Reserve Constable Lawando Dastile told the court that he had arrested the accused after the first alleged rape and that Noji was later released on bail.

According to the State's indictment, Noji was also released on bail (R1 000) when the three women were allegedly attacked and assaulted on October 7.

"I know the accused very well and on October 9, along with other police officers, I arrested him at his parental home and took possession of some bloodstained clothing, after one of the women said she had bitten him on the lips," Dastile said.

Detective Inspector Lennox Mtshotana said one of the women had scratch marks and bruising on her neck and claimed her attacker, who she did not recognise, had "tried to throttle her".

"The woman told me she had bitten the man hard on his finger. I then received a call from another officer in the Zola area of the township who said he had detained a man as a suspect in the rapes.

"I drove over to see this man and saw that he had been bitten on the right index forefinger. He said he had cut himself on some corrugated iron, but I did not believe him.

" This was a bite wound and I knew I had my suspect," he said.

Mtshotana said he arrested the accused and put him in his unmarked police bakkie.

He drove to hospital to pick up two of the complainants who had been taken there for medical examinations.

He said that when he got there, one of the complainants recognised the accused and a heated confrontation ensued, in which the woman had repeatedly screamed at the accused that "he (Noji) had raped her".

State advocate Nickie Turner, after leading evidence from the two police officers, handed in close-up photographs of the injuries to Noji's hand and lips, as exhibits.

The trial continues.

- SAPA