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The man accused of raping a seven-year-old girl in the bathroom of a Dros restaurant in Pretoria will be referred for mental observation.
Members from various political parties and the general public protested outside the Pretoria Magistrates’ Court where Nicholas Ninow appeared briefly on Thursday. His appearance coincided with the Presidential Summit on Gender Based Violence and Femicide, which took place in Centurion.
The 20-year-old was referred to Weskoppies Psychiatric Hospital for observation.
The application for the referral was brought by the state and the defence on Thursday morning.
The court also granted an application by the defence to appoint an additional psychiatrist and clinical psychologist making up a team of four experts who would observe Ninow while he was at the government institution.
Legal aid lawyer for the accused, Riaan du Plessis, told the court that there was a need to explore Ninow’s mental state at the time of the incident.
He added that the accused was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2013 and had used drugs since he was 14 years old. Ninow had previously undergone rehabilitation for substance abuse.
“He also tried to commit suicide because of the severe depression of having bipolar,” said Du Plessis.
State advocate Sanet Jacobson told the court that referring Ninow to Weskoppies was in the interests of justice.
“[His] criminal capacity might be a relevant issue to pursue because a substance was found on him,” said Jacobson.
The court also heard that the DNA forensic evidence had been received but that a toxicology report on the substance found on the accused at the time of the alleged rape has not yet been completed. During a previous court appearance, the accused refused to assist the state’s investigation by handing over his cellphone and claimed that he was assaulted by police while detained at Silverton Police Station.
“My instructions from the accused [are] that he does not want to help the state regarding this issue at this stage. At a later [stage] this issue might be considered,” Du Plessis previously told the court.
Du Plessis argued that the accused had a right against self-incrimination.
A claim that the police assaulted Ninow after his arrest in September was also placed on record.
“[The] accused was forced by police to do push-ups and then he was kicked by police officers and then kicked on the left eye,” Du Plessis claimed.
The accused also claimed that police officers used belts and their open hands to beat him and that people who held him before his arrest at the restaurant used a broken bottle to stab him.
Ninow allegedly followed the seven-year-old child to the restaurant bathroom, where he allegedly raped her.
The accused has not yet brought an application for his release on bail, nor has he pleaded to the charges.
The case was postponed to November 28 and the accused will have to wait for a bed to become available in Weskoppies. – Additional reporting by News24
