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Cemetery rape terror relived

Cemetery rape terror relived

HE held a revolver to her head. He demanded sex from her. He swore at her when she pleaded with him. Then he raped her. Throughout, he was telling her that he was going to kill her that day. And then he shot her.

Bravely, stoically, she told her story in the Windhoek Regional Court on Friday:the woman who survived being threatened with death, raped, then shot, that day in January last year – by the very man who had been posted at the Pionierspark Cemetery to ensure the safety of visitors to that supposed place of peace, quiet and solitude. On Friday, that man, Adolf Kahoro, pleaded guilty to charges of rape and theft of a motor vehicle.But he denied guilt on another charge of attempted murder.As a result, the woman whose visit to the cemetery he turned into a living nightmare on January 21 last year, had to go into the witness box and relive the events that left her scarred not only physically, but psychologically.As she testified, Kahoro stood in the dock across the courtroom from her, the long table reserved for the Public Prosecutor and defence counsel between them.And as she recounted the events of that day, he at times smiled at her.Later on, he went into the witness stand to tell the court that, as he tried to leave the scene after he had raped her, she followed him and tried to take his firearm away from him; it was then that a shot accidentally went off, hitting her in the neck, but, miraculously, not killing her or leaving her gravely injured, he claimed.Kahoro did not give any explanation for what might have motivated him to do what he admitted he had done.The only explanation came from the woman who found herself at his mercy that afternoon.She told the court that she was at the cemetery to feed cats that live there when Kahoro suddenly approached her, a revolver in his right hand pointed at her, and came to a stop in front of her.He put the barrel of the gun against her forehead and said, in Afrikaans:”Today you die.Today I’m shooting you dead,” she recalled.Her response, she said, was to tell him that she was not doing anything illegal, and that she had permission from the Municipality to take care of the cats at the graveyard.He told her to shut up.Then he started throttling her with his left hand.She could not breathe, and started crying.He let go, and then screamed at her that she should just give him what he wanted, she testified.She tried to give him the basket with cat food that she had with her, but he told her that he did not want that.When she said she had nothing else to give him, and asked what he did want, he answered with one word only, she recalled:”Sex”.She continued to try and reason with him, to plead with him, and tried to remind him that he was supposed to be posted at the cemetery to stand guard over people’s cars, she said.His reply was:”I feel f***-all for you.”He then raped her.When he was fastening his pants later, she got up and tried to flee.He, however, caught up with her, stuck the barrel of his gun against her head once again and demanded that she give him the keys to her car.She got hold of the barrel of the gun and tried to pull it away from her head.In the process of wrestling over the weapon, a metal protrusion on the barrel left deep cuts in the palm of her one hand, she added.”At that stage I had heard him saying so many times ‘I am going to kill you, I am going to shoot you’, that I was positive that this was the moment he was going to kill me,” she said.Then he shot her.She just heard a terrible noise, and fell over backwards.She felt his hands going through her clothes, and after he had found her car keys in her brassièrre, he left.She strongly disputed Kahoro’s claims that she had caused the shot to go off while they were struggling over possession of the revolver.She never touched his hand, and she never wanted to get possession of the firearm in any event, she insisted.”I don’t like guns.They scare me,” she explained.On the basis of his plea, Magistrate Ben Myburgh found Kahoro (24) guilty of rape and theft of a motor vehicle on Friday.On September 17, when the case is scheduled to return to court, he will announce whether the court had convicted Kahoro on the attempted murder charge, too.In the meantime, Kahoro remains in custody.On Friday, that man, Adolf Kahoro, pleaded guilty to charges of rape and theft of a motor vehicle.But he denied guilt on another charge of attempted murder.As a result, the woman whose visit to the cemetery he turned into a living nightmare on January 21 last year, had to go into the witness box and relive the events that left her scarred not only physically, but psychologically.As she testified, Kahoro stood in the dock across the courtroom from her, the long table reserved for the Public Prosecutor and defence counsel between them.And as she recounted the events of that day, he at times smiled at her.Later on, he went into the witness stand to tell the court that, as he tried to leave the scene after he had raped her, she followed him and tried to take his firearm away from him; it was then that a shot accidentally went off, hitting her in the neck, but, miraculously, not killing her or leaving her gravely injured, he claimed.Kahoro did not give any explanation for what might have motivated him to do what he admitted he had done.The only explanation came from the woman who found herself at his mercy that afternoon.She told the court that she was at the cemetery to feed cats that live there when Kahoro suddenly approached her, a revolver in his right hand pointed at her, and came to a stop in front of her.He put the barrel of the gun against her forehead and said, in Afrikaans:”Today you die.Today I’m shooting you dead,” she recalled.Her response, she said, was to tell him that she was not doing anything illegal, and that she had permission from the Municipality to take care of the cats at the graveyard.He told her to shut up.Then he started throttling her with his left hand.She could not breathe, and started crying.He let go, and then screamed at her that she should just give him what he wanted, she testified.She tried to give him the basket with cat food that she had with her, but he told her that he did not want that.When she said she had nothing else to give him, and asked what he did want, he answered with one word only, she recalled:”Sex”.She continued to try and reason with him, to plead with him, and tried to remind him that he was supposed to be posted at the cemetery to stand guard over people’s cars, she said.His reply was:”I feel f***-all for you.”He then raped her.When he was fastening his pants later, she got up and tried to flee.He, however, caught up with her, stuck the barrel of his gun against her head once again and demanded that she give him the keys to her car.She got hold of the barrel of the gun and tried to pull it away from her head.In the process of wrestling over the weapon, a metal protrusion on the barrel left deep cuts in the palm of her one hand, she added.”At that stage I had heard him saying so many times ‘I am going to kill you, I am going to shoot you’, that I was positive that this was the moment he was going to kill me,” she said.Then he shot her.She just heard a terrible noise, and fell over backwards.She felt his hands going through her clothes, and after he had found her car keys in her brassièrre, he left.She strongly disputed Kahoro’s claims that she had caused the shot to go off while they were struggling over possession of the revolver.She never touched his hand, and she never wanted to get possession of the firearm in any event, she insisted.”I don’t like guns.They scare me,” she explained.On the basis of his plea, Magistrate Ben Myburgh found Kahoro (24) guilty of rape and theft of a motor vehicle on Friday.On September 17, when the case is scheduled to return to court, he will announce whether the court had convicted Kahoro on the attempted murder charge, too.In the meantime, Kahoro remains in custody.

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