WARNING: This story contains graphic details.
The mother of the eight-year-old girl who was raped at the Dros restaurant last year in September has told the court how her daughter cried out for help after Nicholas Ninow locked himself inside the cubicle with her.
"I'm not okay with what I have witnessed...I don't think I'll ever be okay, I'll continue going to counselling, together with the child," she said in between sobs.
The mother cannot be identified to protect the identity of the minor.
Wrapping up proceedings on the third day of the rape trial of 21-year-old Ninow on Wednesday, the audio testimony of the mother detailed the events of the fateful day when her daughter was violated.
The child was seven-years-old when the incident happened.
She said they arrived at the restaurant after 2 pm and the child went to the kiddies corner to play.
After some time, she went to check on the child but couldn't find her and asked the childminder where she was. She was told the child had gone to the toilet.
"When I got there, she wasn't there, I called out her name and she didn't answer. I went back to the childminder and told her I can't find my child."
She described that one cubicle was out of order, one was open and the middle one was closed.
Together with the childminder they went back to the toilet and she called out for her daughter again and this time she responded saying, "Mommy please help me."
They pushed the door and when they were pushing the person behind the door said, "You are disturbing me."
She said they kept on pushing the door until it opened. "I carried my child out, and he came out naked and ran to the male's toilet. I followed him to the male's toilet and I found him cleaning his private parts with the child's clothes.
"He was using her panties and under his arm, he was still holding her tights."
"He quickly flushed the panties and I asked him why is he doing that and he didn't respond."
The mother said she discovered her child was only wearing her skirt and t-shirt.
"When I picked her up, I noticed blood on her skirt, I didn't check where it was coming from, she was crying."
State prosecutor, Dorah Ngobeni, questioned her for clarification on where the blood could have been coming from.
"The blood could have been coming from her private parts," she said.
Earlier on Wednesday, the girl testified through the CCTV monitor. The courtroom was cleared to protect her identity.
On Monday, Ninow’s legal representative Herman Alberts read out his client's statement to the court in which he admitted guilt on three of the four charges against him.
He pleaded guilty to two counts of rape, possession of illegal substances and defeating the ends of justice; but not guilty to assault.
Ninow has admitted that he knew what he was doing when he grabbed the girl who walked in on him as he was hiding in the female bathroom to use the drug CAT.
- African News Agency (ANA)
