A woman who was allegedly raped in consulting rooms at the Malamulele Hospital told the Sibasa Regional Court that after the incident, her alleged rapist, Dr Justice Mulaudzi, knelt down twice and begged her to forgive him.

Mulaudzi, a clinical manager at Hayani Hospital, is standing trial on four counts of rape. He is alleged to have raped two of his patients during consultations at a private practice at Ha-Makhuvha outside Thohoyandou. Recently, another woman came forward and reported that he had raped her also last year.

The woman is living close to Mulaudzi and a fellow church member of his. The alleged rapes took place last year.

The Malamulele case was opened while Mulaudzi was working as a doctor at the Malamulele Hospital in 2006. The case, which was withdrawn at the time due to a lack of evidence, was reinstated this year after persistent complaints by the victim that the case had not been properly handled.

The trial started last Tuesday and two witnesses have so far testified for the State. The alleged victim in the Malamulele case was busy testifying when the court adjourned on Wednesday. The trial will resume on 3 December 2012.

During her testimony, the Malamulele victim, who is now 28 years old, said that though she was trying to forget the incident, she still had memories of it. “I was experiencing a rash on my abdomen when I decided to visit the hospital at Malamulele,” she said. She added that the doctor ordered her to take off all her clothes, and she obliged. “He put on some gloves after ordering me to lie on the bed with my legs open. He smeared a gel on the gloves and started fiddling with his finger in my vagina, but could not ‘complete the treatment,’ as he said he was going for lunch. I was told to come back after lunch,” she said.

“When I entered the room after lunch, I was ordered to undress again, but this time around, the doctor did not wear gloves. He told me to lie on the bed again and started fiddling with his finger in my vagina for a while. At some stage, I felt an excruciating pain in my vagina and I tried to get up, but the doctor told me that he was not yet finished with the treatment,” she said.

She added that she even closed her eyes with both hands, as she could not withstand the pain. She told the court that after the “treatment” she asked him if what he had done was the right way to treat patients. “I demanded to be given my bed letter, so that I could go and see another doctor who could test if I was pregnant. He refused, saying that a person could not conceive after having sex only once,” she said.

She said she insisted on being given her bed letter, upon which the doctor knelt down and asked for forgiveness. She added that Mulaudzi said public knowledge about the incident would ruin his career, tear his family apart and the community would not respect him anymore.

Mulaudzi listened to the testimony with his head hanging down.

Magistrate Mike Coetzee is presiding in the case, Adv Christopher Burke represents the State and Adv Anton Ramaano represents Mulaudzi.