Dros rapist takes fall
GUILTY: RAPE AND OTHER CHARGES
Pre-sentencing hearings to take place on October 16 and 17.
Dros rapist Nicholas Ninow has been found guilty of rape, possession of drugs and defeating the ends of justice. Ninow, who pleaded guilty to rape, heard his fate yesterday when the High Court in Pretoria made a pronouncement on the charges he faced.
Ninow, who admitted to raping a seven-year-old girl in a Dros restaurant’s bathroom in Pretoria in 2018, also pleaded guilty to defeating the ends of justice and possession of an illegal substance.
He pleaded not guilty to assault, while a kidnapping charge was withdrawn by the state when the trial started last week.
Judge Mokhine Mosopa handed down his verdict on the charges.
During the four-day trial, the state call six witnesses, including the victim, focusing on the sequence of events.
Ninow’s Legal Aid lawyer, Herman Alberts, closed his case without calling any witnesses.
While Ninow admitted to raping the victim, he claimed
the victim found him in the bathroom and he acted impulsively.
In Ninow’s plea explanation, he said he went to the women’s bathroom to snort the drug CAT because he was afraid of being caught.
The state disputed this, saying Ninow planned the assault and preyed on the victim, following her into the bathroom in a premeditated way.
The mother of the victim had found Ninow naked in the bathroom cubicle with her daughter.
“No parent should ever see what I witnessed,” the girl’s traumatised mother told the court. She testified that Ninow came out of the toilet and ran to the men’s bathroom.
She then retrieved her child and handed her over to someone before running back to confront Ninow, leading to several other patrons storming the bathroom, where they discovered a naked, blood-covered Ninow.
“Then I found him cleaning himself with my child’s clothes,” she said.
According to the mother, Ninow also told them not to disturb him as they tried to force the toilet stall open.
The victim also called out for her mother, saying: “Help me, mommy,”
Pre-sentencing hearings will take place on October 16 and 17. –Additional News24 Wire
No parent should ever see what I witnessed
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