Husband faces 18 rape raps
2007-11-13 07:31
Johannesburg - In a devastating orgy of violence, a Roodepoort man stands accused not only of raping his wife 18 times during their marriage, but also allegedly helping his stepfather, her brother and two friends to rape her.
Not even their three-year-old son, who clung to his mother in fear one afternoon in June last year, could stop him: he gave the hysterical boy a hiding and threw him into his room.
The man then continued to rape his wife.
The child stopped breathing and died a few days later.
Appearing on 34 charges
Details of the 30-year-old man's alleged orgy of violence were revealed when he appeared briefly in Johannesburg High Court for a trial date to be set.
He was charged with 18 counts of rape, one of attempted murder, eight of serious assault, five of indecent assault and two of common assault.
In a chilling affidavit, the State alleges that since he raped his wife the first time in their house in Randburg in 2000, he had on several occasions helped to pin her down so that other men could have their "turn" to rape her.
A few weeks after being raped allegedly in turn by her husband, his stepfather and her brother in October 2003, she found that she was pregnant.
Her husband and her brother took her to a house in Brixton where her husband held her down, while an extremely painful illegal abortion was carried out on her against her will.
It's also alleged that he punched and kicked her four months before that, while she was pregnant with the son who died at the age of three.
She had to have the baby by Caesarean section a short while later.
During several other incidents, the man allegedly had tied his wife to the headboard of their bed, and banged her head against the wood.
According to the affidavit, he also burnt her private parts on several occasions.
When she wanted to leave him, he apparently threatened to kill her and their three children.
Moved out of the house
When the fear-crazed woman finally had the courage to tell him she could not continue this way, he allegedly sliced her chest with a knife.
She finally managed to move out of the house in November, with the help of friends.
The man is expected to appear in court again on April 21 next year, when he will be asked to plead.
He has been remanded after his plea for bail was rejected by the court.