The case against Nigerian televangelist Timothy Omotoso has been postponed to September 4 to allow both the state and defence to file arguments.
This after Omotoso’s lawyer, advocate Peter Daubermann, wrapped up his cross-examination of Melucia Jiyani, the 14th witness in the case of rape and human trafficking against the televangelist.
On Friday, Jiyani told the high court in Gqeberha that Omotoso did not rape her but instead sexually violated her.
“I never once stated that I got raped. Not in my statement to the police or even my family,” said Jiyani.
“What I said is that he inserted his finger into my private part. He sexually violated me. I remember him inserting it, and it going deep into my private part.”
Jiyani, who attended the Jesus Dominion International Church in Durban, said the sexual assault took place between 2010 and 2011.
She told the high court that she was called into Omotoso’s room where he asked her to undress.
“I got there and the door was opened. I went into his room and knelt next to him. The lights were off,” she testified.
“This was at the house in Westridge in Umhlanga. He was laying on his bed and I knelt beside him, he then asked me to join him in bed.
“I was sitting up in bed and then he got on top of me. He removed my pyjama pants and pulled the top over my head.”
Daubermann asked why Jiyani was changing her version of events.
“What did you think was going to happen when he took your clothes off?” asked Daubermann.
“Two years ago, you gave a testimony and said he took off your clothes and then went on top of you, that was the sequence. Why are you changing it now?”
Omotoso and his co-accused Lusanda Sulani and Zikiswa Sitho are in the dock on 62 charges including racketeering, human trafficking, rape, and sexual assault.
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