Africa-Press – South-Africa. Judgment was reserved on Monday in the Western Cape High Court trial of the man accused of kidnapping, raping and murdering eight-year-old Elsies River girl, Tazne van Wyk.
Judge Alan Maher hopes to have judgment ready by 24 October.
Maher presided over the evidence relating to the murder, as well as allegations of sexual abuse and rape levelled at the accused by his own family.
The accused pleaded not guilty to the 27 charges.
He was on parole during the period of the charges, but had absconded.
He testified that the child relatives, who accused him of rape and sexual assault, were lying.
‘Each day was Judgement Day’: State wraps up case against Tazne murder accused
Regarding the charges of assaulting child relatives in the name of discipline, he said they got their injuries from playing rough.
He said Tazne was taken by four foreign nationals in the taxi which he and the girl were in.
Tazne was last seen on 7 February 2020 at a tuck shop, metres away from her parents’ home.
The accused claimed she appeared next to him on his way to the mosque and got into the taxi when the occupants asked for directions. He got in after her – and, according to him, they had a hellish night as he tried to get Tazne back home to Cape Town from Worcester. He said the foreign nationals kept them against their will, and came back for them after initially letting them go.
Tazne’s body was found in a stormwater pipe under the N1 outside Worcester. Her left hand was cut off.
The accused did not report the ordeal at the hands of these, as yet, unidentified people. He said he feared that he would get the blame.
His lawyer, Saleem Halday, implored the court to treat, with caution, the evidence of the child witnesses to the sexual assault and rape the man was accused of. He said there were too many contradictions and inconsistencies in the evidence.
Father did not know sex with his daughter was unlawful, court hears
He singled out one person in particular: the accused’s granddaughter. She was a witness to many of the allegations relating to the accused’s family. She also alleged that he raped her as well.
“It feels like a conspiracy,” he submitted.
Last week, Halday said the accused could only be convicted of rape or incest with regard to the impregnation of his daughter, not both, because the accused insisted that the sexual penetration was by consent.
Tazne’s mom, Carmen, who had to listen to the shocking details that emerged in court, will have to make the journey again in October when Maher is expected to have his judgment ready.
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