SOUTH AFRICA
IOL
Zelda Venter
August 16 2005 at 09:28AM
Clutching his Bible in cuffed hands, a Hammanskraal priest on Monday walked down to the holding cells at the Pretoria High Court to start serving his 15-year jail term for raping a member of his flock three times in one night.
But there may be hope for the 28-year-old Elias Manamela after Judge NK Ranchod gave him leave to appeal against his triple rape conviction. It emerged during the trial that the night in question was not the first time in which the 21-year-old victim and her pastor had sex. The victim, however, persisted that she did not give Manamela permission to have sex with her in 2002.
She also said he offered her a Bible to keep quiet.
Manamela, a priest at the Revival of Faith Congregation in Hammanskraal, said the sex took place with her consent. He had even walked her home later that night to ensure her safety. But a victim impact report stated that she was traumatised.