South Africa: High Court Finds Restaurant Rapist Guilty

Supplied
Composite image of rape accused Nicholas Ninow.
16 September 2019

Cape Town — The North Gauteng High Court has officially found Nicholas Ninow guilty of rape, News24 reports.

At the start of his trial, Ninow pleaded guilty to raping a 7-year-old girl in the bathroom of a Dros restaurant in Pretoria in 2018, as well as charges of defeating the ends of justice and possessing an illegal substance. However, he pleaded not guilty to assault.

The State, however, rejected Ninow's guilty pleas due to the fact that parts of his testimony contradicted the State's evidence.

When handing down the ruling, Judge Mokhine Mosopa accepted the State's version of events, saying: "The only reasonable inference the court can draw is that the accused saw the victim playing in the play area, saw her going to the bathroom, followed her and then undressed and raped her," Mosopa said.

Ninow was not found guilty of assault. Sentencing proceedings will commence on 16 October.

AllAfrica publishes around 500 reports a day from more than 100 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals, representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct.

Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica. To address comments or complaints, please Contact us.