The woman allegedly raped by a South African National Defence Force (SANDF) navy officer took the witness stand at the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court.
The woman allegedly raped by a South African National Defence Force (SANDF) navy officer took the witness stand at the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court on Monday where she detailed her trauma following two alleged incidents in 2021.
In her continued testimony, the woman told the court that in a text exchange between her and the accused, he had asked her if they could “rape each other again”.
The matter was officially reported to police in August 2021.
“I was in panic and denial about what had happened. I texted him a lot after the incidents and (messaged) him about taking an HIV test and to get a morning-after pill,” the woman told the court.
In her account to the court, the complainant stated that the two were drinking during the evening. She said she woke up naked with the accused on top of her.
The woman said she had been seeing a psychiatrist since the incident.
“I did not want to believe that I was raped again because I had been a rape victim before. I was not okay and I struggled to wrap my head around it,” she said.
“I was very triggered and when it happened, it felt like a dream, it didn’t make sense, and I was re-traumatised.”
She told the court that after the incident occurred, the accused’s seniors at work called her for a meeting where they apologised for what happened.
The accused had reported the incident to them, she said.
The accused pleaded not guilty on May 3 this year and the trial began.
The matter was postponed previously because voice recordings, in which the accused was alleged to have confessed to the rapes, had to be transcribed.
The transcripts of these recordings were admitted as evidence on Monday, with no objection from the defence.
The cross-examination of the woman is set to continue on July 18.
Cape Times
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