Durban — The Pinetown Magistrate’s Court has granted bail to a 31-year-old father of two alleged to have raped a 17-year-old.
On Wednesday the court found that the interest of justice permitted the man's release on R2 500 bail.
The man, from Mariannhill, is alleged to have raped a 17-year-old girl on December 6 and if found guilty faces a minimum sentence of 10 years behind bars.
In the matter, the State alleges that the accused unlawfully and intentionally committed an act of sexual penetration with the victim by inserting his genital organ into the genital organ of the teen complainant in the case, who is his neighbour.
When the man first appeared in court after his arrest on December 8 the State had indicated that it would be opposing bail and asked that the man’s legal counsel provide an alternative address for him when he did apply for bail.
On the previous occasion when the man was in court, the State had said that the accused was still to be taken for a pointing out of the alternative address that he had provided for purposes of bail before his application could be heard.
The matter was then adjourned to this week when the bail application was expected to proceed.
The court granted the man bail on the condition that he relocates today to the alternative address he provided, which was verified by the State.
The man was warned by the court to not go near the Thornwood area until the finalisation of the matter.
He is also not to contact directly or indirectly the complainant as well as witnesses in the matter.
His bail conditions also include reporting once a week to the local police station where he will relocate to.
The case was adjourned to February for further investigations and for the allocation of a regional court prosecutor.
Daily News