A woman is facing criminal charges after a man, who is serving an eight-year sentence for trying to rape her, filed a counter-charge, accusing her of beating him up.
The 35-year-old woman appeared in the Mitchells Plain Magistrates’ Court for assault after she and her sister allegedly attacked Vincent Japhta, 37, who was convicted and sentenced last year for attempting to rape her, reports Cape Argus.
Japhta claims that on 19 May 2019, the woman invited him to her home to confront him about the rape accusations.
He said after they exchanged words, she started kicking him, and was joined by her sister and another unknown woman.
He said that the woman hit him with a beer bottle, dragged him around the house and dunked his head in toilet water.
The woman’s lawyer, Prabashni Subrayan-Naidoo, put it to Japhta that the only reason he had brought the charges of assault against his victim was to dissuade her from laying a rape charge against him.
Japhta replied that he and his family also suffered.
It was proved in court that in May 2019 that Japhta attempted to rape the woman when she found him on top of her after she had gone to bed.
Japhta was an acquaintance and was at her home for a party but was not personally invited.
She has since laid a charge of rape against him as she believes he did in fact rape her.
The woman said she wouldn’t forget the day she was arrested.
“He threatened me… When the police came to my house to arrest me on August 3, they brought him to my house. I said ‘you’re bringing the rapist back to the house’ and they were confused, so I told them ‘that guy raped me, I laid a charge against him’.”
The woman said she was told that she would lose the case and end up with a criminal record and that she needed to drop the rape charges.