Kimberley - A 23-year-old Prieska man said on Wednesday that all three of the women who accused him of raping them, were actually the ones who made sexual advances to him and he merely obliged their requests.
Angelo Visagie appeared in Northern Cape High Court where is accused of three counts of rape, which allegedly took place on August 4, 20 and 25, 2018. He is also charged with two counts of theft.
It is alleged that Visagie raped three women on different occasions and at different places in August last year.
Visagie testified that he does not know why the women would accuse him of these acts and said that the complainants were the ones who approached him and asked to have intercourse with him.
Hs said that he met the first complainant at a shebeen and after walking with her she made an advance on him.
“I met the complainant at the shebeen. We walked from the shebeen together. We had some wine we brought from the shebeen. She started kissing me after we had the wine. I kissed her back. She told me that I was an attractive man and carried on kissing me. She then said we must have intercourse. I told her if that is the way she feels then we can do it. She took off her pants and underwear and lay on the ground. As we were busy, she told me to impregnate her. I told her not to say that but continued with the act anyway,” Visagie said.
He said the woman suddenly cried rape after she saw two young men walking in their direction.
“As the men were approaching, she told them that she was raped. One of the men had a knife and was coming towards me. He told the woman to go to the police and they started chasing me. I still had the wine with me when I ran away.”
He said that he did not run off because the allegations were true but because the men were going to hurt him.
Visagie could not explain why a woman who wanted him to impregnate her would moments later accuse him of rape and later identify him as the person who raped her.
He later said that the reason must be that the complainant was under the influence of alcohol.
Visagie continued to testify that another unknown woman made a sexual advance towards him two weeks after the first incident.
“I was sitting on the pavement at a local supermarket when a woman came and asked me to help her with her bags. She was on her way to the hiking spot. She asked me who I was and I told her my name. She also told me her name and we first went to the clinic where she went to fetch her pills. We then headed back to town where we went to the hiking spot.”.
He said that while they were waiting for the woman’s lift, she told him to have intercourse with her behind a bush.
“She went behind a bush to relieve herself. She then told me to come around the bush. I took the bags and went to her. I told her to pull up her pants. She said she wanted to have intercourse with me and handed me a plastic bag which she said I must wrap around my penis. I obliged and we went to sit by the table and chairs after we were done. I later told her I had to leave but will come again between 3 and 4o’clock to see if she had left.”
Visagie disputed the version of the complainant, who had said that he had throttled her and stolen her bag.
He said that although there was medical evidence and the doctor’s testimony stated that the complainant was throttled, he was not the person who hurt the complainant.
Upon being asked how the complainant’s bag with her personal belongings and pills ended up at his home, Visagie said someone possibly put the bag at his home.
Visagie told the court that he knew the third complainant as well as her children.
He said he found it unlikely that all three women claimed that they did not know him, as the town is small.
According to Visagie, he met the third complainant at the dumping site, where she asked him to help her take out pieces of meat which had been dumped.
He said the complainant washed the meat at the dumping site and thereafter he and three friends walked back in the direction of the location with the woman.
Visagie said the complainant later said that she wanted to collect some wood and the other men had continued walking.
He said he and the complainant went into an old building at the train station, where she told him to make a fire as she wanted to braai some of the liver she got.
He said that the woman handed him a condom after he told her that he could not make a fire.
“She took out a condom and gave it to me. She told me we should have intercourse. I took the condom and she undressed herself. I threw the condom to the ground after we were done. We then left and she hurt herself as we were walking out of the building, injuring her head.”
Visagie disputed the testimony of the complainant, where she had stated that he hit her in the eye with his fist and stomped on her head before he raped her.
Visagie admitted that the complainant was bleeding but said the injury was on top of her eye and not on the side of her head.
The State, represented by advocate Hollander, said that Visagie’s version of events was highly unlikely.
Hollander told the court that all three complaints had no reason to collude against Visagie as they all admitted that they did not know him and could only identify him during the identity parade.
Judgment was reserved to Thursday.