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Mbombela – A 52-year-old woman was beaten, raped, throttled, left for dead in a river, and had to crawl to a street for help, the Nelspruit Magistrate’s Court has heard.
Christopher Mawewe Tshawane, 30, from a farm outside Mbombela in Mpumalanga, is on trial on a charge of raping her on February 3, 2014. His alleged accomplice is still at large.
Tshawane pleaded not guilty. His trial continues before Magistrate Vanessa Joubert on Tuesday.
Rebecca Palma, a nurse at Rob Ferreira Hospital, testified last week that the woman was brought to her in a wheelchair. She was soaking wet.
'Could not walk'
The woman had injuries to the back of her head; bruises on her forehead, right knee and foot; a bruised right eye, a cut extending from her upper lip to her nose, and injuries to her genitals. Marks around her neck indicated she had been throttled.
Palma testified that the woman told her two men attacked her while she was on her way to visit her husband on the farm.
"They forced her to the ground and took turns raping her twice each. One of them throttled her and, when she showed signs of losing her breath, they dragged her and dumped her into a small river."
Palma said when her attackers had left, she crawled to a street for help. A car stopped, the driver helped her get in, and took her to the hospital.
Casanda Jacobs, a counsellor with the Greater Rape Intervention Project, who was at the hospital, interviewed the victim after Palma had examined her.
"She had sustained injuries on her head and face and could not walk at all. She complained of pains in her whole body and in both her legs."
Tshawane claimed the woman was a sex worker and that he had paid her R50 for sex.
