The Extension 9 school girl who survived being gang raped and spending a night out in the cold faced her alleged attackers in court for the first time on Wednesday 16 October.
The Extension 9 school girl who survived being gang raped and spending a night out in the cold faced her alleged attackers in court for the first time on Wednesday 16 October.
Family members of the three men accused of raping the 17-year-old sat next to her in the front row of the court's seats.
They made remarks indicating that their relatives were innocent before the magistrate walked in. The men aged 27, 28 and 29 appeared calm as they sat in the dock laughing and turning to look at community members who came to hear the case.
People were horrified by what had happened on 22 March. The girl's mother said her daughter was found wrapped up in a carpet outside a house the day after she was brutally attacked.
People living in the house only realised someone was there when they heard her moaning and went out to investigate.
The teenager spent time in hospitals in Port Elizabeth and Grahamstown being treated for stab wounds. She had been stabbed twice in the back of the neck and was unable to use her right arm and leg after the incident, her mother said.
She has only recently regained the ability to walk on her right leg and has had to relearn to write with her left hand.
In June she suffered another devastating blow when her seven-month-old baby died.
On Wednesday this week, the three men appeared visibly disappointed when their lawyer told them that the case would be postponed as the magistrate could not appear in court. The case had initially been postponed for plea and trial.
The state prosecutor told the court that magistrate Thembela Mata was in Port Elizabeth this week for another court matter. The case will resume on 18 November for plea and trial.
