Judgement set for December for rape accused step-father
Judgement is set to be handed down next month in the trial of a Verulam man accused of sexually abusing his stepdaughter.
The State and Defence wrapped up their closing arguments in the Durban High Court yesterday.
At the start of the trial last month, the accused was asked to show the court the tattoos on his arms and chest and a scar on his thigh.
Yesterday, Senior State Advocate, Cheryl Naidu demonstrated why she'd made that request.
She presented video evidence of an abuse incident and pointed out a tattoo and a scar on the perpetrator in the footage.
She said this proved the accused was the abuser as the marks on the man in the video were unique.
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In his closing arguments, Defence Attorney Thiagaraj Pillay said the counts of rape should be combined into a single charge.
He also argued against the human trafficking charge, telling the court the child wasn't kept locked in and could leave the house whenever she wanted to.
After the court heard some of the 56 charges were duplicated and couldn't be sustained, they were amended to 36.
