Durban — The Pinetown Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday granted bail to a 27-year-old man alleged to have sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl while she had been sleeping.
The court, before granting the man bail attached with conditions that he relocates, heard evidence that in the wee hours of the morning earlier this month, he had kicked in a shack door where the teen was and proceeded to sexually assault her by touching her breasts at an informal settlement near Hillcrest.
According to an affidavit by the investigating officer, Sergeant Favourite Mdunge, read out in court, the victim had been at her friend’s home, where she slept over, when the incident took place.
She said that the accused had been visiting the uncle of the friend of the victim, and he and others had been drinking in the shack where the teens had been sleeping.
“When everyone had left, the accused returned, and kicked open the door of the shack and proceeded to sexually assault the complainant by touching her breasts. The victim saw the accused enter, and the uncle of the friend of the victim pointed him out as the person who had done this,” she said.
Mdunge’s attitude to bail was that she was not opposed to it as long as the accused relocated and did not contact or intimidate the witnesses, who were known to him.
The suspect’s Legal Aid attorney, PM Dlamini, read out the man’s affidavit in support of bail, in which he said that he was a father to a one-year-old child and lived with the mother of the toddler in Glenwood.
“The interest of justice permits my release on bail. I have no passport, no family and financial ties outside of South Africa. I will attend the trial till finality. I have a fixed address and have also provided an alternative address, should I be granted bail with condition that I relocate. I have no pending or previous matters against me. I understand that what I say in this affidavit can be used as evidence in any subsequent proceedings,” he said.
He went on to say that he understood the charge he faced, and his legal counsel had explained to him that he did not need to go into the merits of the case in the bail application.
“I have been living with the mother of my child for five years. I am unemployed, and I was arrested on December 7. I have spent almost ten days in custody and can afford an amount of bail of R1 000, which my sister will assist in paying,” said the man.
The court granted him bail of R2 000, with the condition that he relocates and signs at his nearest police station once a week, and he was warned not to communicate with the victim or witnesses in any manner.
Daily News