'I want to mess with your body': Woman tells court of her rape ordeal

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The of a 23-year-old Prieska man, who is accused of three charges of rape and two charges of theft, got under way in the Northern Cape High Court on Monday. Angelo Visagie is accused of raping three women on three different occasions in August 2018. He is also facing charges of stealing the property of his victims. According to one of the complainants, who took the stand on Monday, she was on her way to her sister when Visagie accosted her and dragged her into some nearby bushes, where he raped her. “I was drinking with my father and uncle in Smarty Town. My father told me that my sister said I must go visit her at the livestock trading post, which is situated along the Britstown road. I first went to buy myself some wine and then made my way to sister’s place,” she said. The complainant said that on the way she noticed the accused. “I saw a man standing at a board next to the road and thought he was hitch-hiking to Marydale. I continued walking and the next moment the man was a few feet behind me. I only saw him behind me when I looked back. I never heard his footsteps or realised he was behind me before then.”

According to the complainant, Visagie tried to hit her with a kierie after he told her his intentions.

“I asked him what he wanted and he said ‘ek wil met jou lyf mors’ (I want to mess with your body). I told him to take the wine and leave me alone. He held a yellow kierie in his hand and tried to hit me with it. I blocked him and he grabbed and strangled me. He had his arm around my neck and dragged me into the nearby bushes. I could not breathe during the time he was pulling me from the road towards the bushes.”

She added that although she put up a fight, her attempts were in vain as the accused kicked her and she felt like she was losing consciousness.

“He dragged me to two huge rocks. He then used my jersey to tie my hands behind my back and kicked me against one of the rocks. He turned around and went to fetch the wine from the road where I had dropped it.”

She testified further that Visagie then partially undressed her, before raping her.

She said that Visagie had afterwards threatened to get his friend, who, he said, would also rape her.

The complainant said she was able to run away when Visagie turned his back on her to relieve himself.

Visagie has denied all charges against him.

The trial continues.

DFA