VUYO MKIZE
THE TWO Soweto men accused of breaking into the homes of seven women and raping them claim the case against them is built on evidence that was planted by the policewoman investigating the incidents.
Jacinto Chilenge, 26, and Felix Machava, 33, gave their evidence-in-chief yesterday in the Johannesburg High Court .
They accused the investigating officer, Captain Arnel Prinsloo, of “planting their semen in order to implicate them”. DNA evidence linking Chilenge and Machava to the rapes, perpetrated between April 2009 to April 2010, has been presented to the court. They have pleaded not guilty.
A Joburg newspaper reported yesterday that medical microbiologist Captain Clement Mitchell had given his testimony on Friday on the findings of his DNA analysis of semen found on the women.
In the first incident, where a woman claimed to have been raped by two men on April 11, 2009, he found traces only of Machava’s semen.
In the second case, on November 17, 2009, two women said they were raped by two men – one victim each being raped by one man. In that case, Mitchell found Machava’s semen on one victim and Chilenge’s semen on another.
In the third case, a woman told the court she was raped by two men on November 18, 2009; one used a condom and another didn’t. Machava’s DNA was found on the woman.
In the fourth case, the rape victim testified that on December 1, 2009 she was raped by four men who had broken into the shack she shared with her boyfriend.
Only Machava’s DNA was found on her. On December 4, 2009, three men broke into a woman’s house in Bramfischerville which she shared with her boyfriend. She told the court that she was taken to nearby veld and raped by each of the men, but Mitchell found only Chilenge’s DNA.
Chilenge’s DNA was also found on the last rape victim, who told the court that two men had broken into her shack on April 17, 2009 and one had raped her.
Chilenge told the court: “I’m not surprised that my DNA was found because the investigating officer told me that she would make sure my DNA was linked.”
Machava also denied involvement in all the charges against him. He said it was a case of mistaken identity.
He was also asked to explain why his semen was found on some of the women, and he said: “I don’t get surprised when I hear that. The investigating officer said to me she would do her best to get my blood involved, and her lawyers and doctors would make sure I was implicated.”
The men face 36 charges, including rape, compelling a person to witness a sexual act, housebreaking with intent to rob, robbery with aggravating circumstances, and the unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition. Machava faces an additional charge of trying to escape from police custody on the day of his arrest.
The trial goes on tomorrow.