The madrassa teacher accused of sexually assaulting his stepdaughter appeared in the Wynberg Regional Court as the trial began on Tuesday.
The courtroom had to be cleared as the brave 15-year-old faced Abdul Karriem Davids as she testified.
Davids faces three charges of grooming, sexual assault and exposing a minor to pornography.
The mom, who was not allowed inside the court as she is a witness, said her daughter chose to be in court instead of testifying on camera.
“What she didn’t know was that she would be there alone (with him) without me, but she is a very strong child.”
Davids, who is from Surrey Estate, was arrested at the madrassa in Ottery in November 2019, after the girl told her friend that he assaulted her during Ramadaan that year.
“She told me about one incident when she was 13 years, she greeted him by kissing him on the cheek, he turned and kissed her with an open mouth and then grabbed her bum,” the mom told the Daily Voice.
“She got a fright and ran out and told her friend. Her friend told her to tell me and warned her if she didn't, she would tell me herself. They came to tell me together.”
The mom said her parents were looking after her daughter and when she returned her stepfather had a shocked look on his face.
“He asked me if my daughter had told me what Abdul had actually done to her,” she said.
“I told him yes...but he said that was not all and he revealed more of what he did.”