Bail has been denied for a 42-year-old man accused of raping a 70-year-old grandmother at Vukani Township.
Bail has been denied for a 42-year-old man accused of raping a 70-year-old grandmother at Vukani Township.
Magistrate Nicola Redpath ordered that the accused, Lulamile Gcwati, a disability grant pensioner, be sent for psychological observation at Fort England Hospital.
The investigating officer Nompumelelo Mocuphe said the elderly woman was at home on Friday 16 July when she heard kick on her door. The court heard how the accused got into the victim’s bed, took off her panties and raped her.
The pensioner managed to hit him with a stick and the accused fled from the house. The victim was later escorted to the home of the offender by the police where she identified him. She says she knew the perpetrator before the incident took place.
Gcwati claimed he did not know what was happening to him. “I heard voices in my ears telling me to run to a nearby bush. I also smoked dagga on that day,” he admitted. "Sometimes I get mentally disturbed, and I receive treatment from Fort England hospital.”
According to the doctor’s certificate, there were signs of forced penetration and abrasion on the victim. Mocuphe said she is awaiting preliminary DNA test results from Port Elizabeth which will take up to six months to be processed.
The case was postponed for the 28 July.
