Iuze Mukube
A 34-year-old man took the stand on Monday before Judge Philanda Christiaan, asserting that he is the victim of a set-up orchestrated by the complainant and his former girlfriend regarding the charges of rape and housebreaking alleged against him.
Moses Aubrey Salele, who was acquitted of nine charges, is now facing four counts, including housebreaking, rape, enabling an unknown perpetrator to commit a sexual act, and coercing a man to rape the complainant.
It is alleged by the State that on 5 June 2020, the accused and an unidentified perpetrator broke into a shack in the Goreangab informal settlement and raped two women, who will not be named to protect their identities.
He claimed that he was being set up as a retaliation by his former girlfriend, because he was the reason she was arrested after he earlier reported her for housebreaking.
This was following the State arguing that the victim had no reason to lie against him.
He asserted his ex is using the victim, who is her cousin, to falsely incriminate him as the three women who testified on the State’s side are all biologically related and are cousins.
He was adamant that he only met the complainant on two occasions during the time he was dating her cousin in 2018.
Hence, he is disputing the testimony by the victim that she identified him by his voice and by the smell of his perfume, which he claimed can only be done by people who are familiar to each other.
During the time he was dating her cousin, he had never chatted, talked to or gone to the house of the complainant, the accused stated.
Salele added that he did not even like the smell of perfume because he is allergic to it. Hence, he could not have gone to the victim’s house to hold her baby, or even leave the smell of perfume on the baby’s clothes.
He asserted his hate for violence, and as someone who does not drink nor smoke or associates with anyone, he did not have a reason to rape the complainant.
The State contended that the accused’s financial difficulties could have motivated his actions, as witness testimony indicated that on the day of the incident, the perpetrator was demanding money. He insisted that he was not even present in Windhoek on that day.
Salele argued he was unaware of the circumstances surrounding the victim’s injuries as he was not present during the incident, asserting further that the State lacks sufficient evidence against him.
The State further argued that Salele was not the saintly person he portrayed in court, and had indeed committed the alleged acts.
The accused argued that he was a professor only focused on his studies, which he may be implying is the reason he does not drink, smoke or socialise with others.
He is represented by Mbanga Siyomunji, and the State by Palmer Khumalo.