A 34-year-old Zwide man was on Wednesday convicted on three counts of rape and the assault of his wife during an ordeal which left her with a part of her left ear bitten off.
At the beginning of the trial the man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of his wife, pleaded not guilty to the charges and claimed the sex was consensual.
However, Port Elizabeth High Court judge Bulelwa Pakati found that the man’s version of events was a “ridiculous fabrication”.
Pakati rejected the man’s claims of what had happened in the early hours of March 30 2018, and said his version could not possibly be reasonably true.
Pakati found that the woman’s version was straightforward and reliable, and that the state had proved beyond reasonable doubt that the man was guilty of all the charges against him.
The pair had been married since December 2016 and during their marriage the woman had opened several cases of assault with the police against her husband, Pakati said.
The charges were later withdrawn by the woman.
They were still married, but not living together at the time of the assault.
On March 29 2018 the woman, who had finished her shift at a mobile clinic in Rink Street, Central, went to her cousin’s NU4, Motherwell home, where she and her estranged husband met up.
In the early hours of March 30 2018, and after the pair had consumed alcohol, the man requested that he spend the night with his wife at her flat across the road.
Pakati found that the woman had reluctantly agreed to the arrangement as she was scared of how the man would react if she refused.
At the flat the man forced the woman to undress before violently raping her.
During the ordeal the woman was bitten on her face, breasts and arm and had a piece of her left ear bitten off.
The man was found also to have strangled the woman.
After the man fell asleep she was able to get out the flat and went to her next-door neighbour for help.
During the trial the woman’s neighbour testified that she had entered his flat naked and bleeding before she told him what happened.
During his testimony the husband claimed he had had consensual sex with his wife, and that while he was at the flat the woman’s alleged boyfriend arrived before he fled in fear of his safety.
“It is strange that after consensual sex with [his] wife [the man] fled to Zwide and left his wife with an alleged boyfriend who didn’t even have a name,” Pakati said.
“[He] did not check on her again for 12 days when he was arrested.”
After convicting the man on all the charges against him, Pakati ordered he be held in custody until sentencing proceedings on March 3.
The man had previously been out on R1,000 bail, which Pakati said had been too little.
Zwide man convicted of raping own wife
Image: Deneesha Pillay
A 34-year-old Zwide man was on Wednesday convicted on three counts of rape and the assault of his wife during an ordeal which left her with a part of her left ear bitten off.
At the beginning of the trial the man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of his wife, pleaded not guilty to the charges and claimed the sex was consensual.
However, Port Elizabeth High Court judge Bulelwa Pakati found that the man’s version of events was a “ridiculous fabrication”.
Pakati rejected the man’s claims of what had happened in the early hours of March 30 2018, and said his version could not possibly be reasonably true.
Pakati found that the woman’s version was straightforward and reliable, and that the state had proved beyond reasonable doubt that the man was guilty of all the charges against him.
The pair had been married since December 2016 and during their marriage the woman had opened several cases of assault with the police against her husband, Pakati said.
The charges were later withdrawn by the woman.
They were still married, but not living together at the time of the assault.
On March 29 2018 the woman, who had finished her shift at a mobile clinic in Rink Street, Central, went to her cousin’s NU4, Motherwell home, where she and her estranged husband met up.
In the early hours of March 30 2018, and after the pair had consumed alcohol, the man requested that he spend the night with his wife at her flat across the road.
Pakati found that the woman had reluctantly agreed to the arrangement as she was scared of how the man would react if she refused.
At the flat the man forced the woman to undress before violently raping her.
During the ordeal the woman was bitten on her face, breasts and arm and had a piece of her left ear bitten off.
The man was found also to have strangled the woman.
After the man fell asleep she was able to get out the flat and went to her next-door neighbour for help.
During the trial the woman’s neighbour testified that she had entered his flat naked and bleeding before she told him what happened.
During his testimony the husband claimed he had had consensual sex with his wife, and that while he was at the flat the woman’s alleged boyfriend arrived before he fled in fear of his safety.
“It is strange that after consensual sex with [his] wife [the man] fled to Zwide and left his wife with an alleged boyfriend who didn’t even have a name,” Pakati said.
“[He] did not check on her again for 12 days when he was arrested.”
After convicting the man on all the charges against him, Pakati ordered he be held in custody until sentencing proceedings on March 3.
The man had previously been out on R1,000 bail, which Pakati said had been too little.
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