South Africa: Anene Booysen Gang Rape and Murder Suspect Jonathan Davids Denied Bail

One of the two men charged with raping and murdering 17-year-old Anene Booysen in South Africa has been denied bail.

Jonathan Davids, 22, is believed to be the victim's ex-boyfriend. Before she died, Booysen named one of her attackers as Zwai - the accused's nickname.

The teenager is believed to have been lured away from her friends on 1 February by a group of people she knew in Bredasdorp.

They then proceeded to rape her and disembowel her by slitting her stomach open. She was found at a construction site the following day by a security guard, who found her intestines in the dirt next to her.

Booysen said there were five or six attackers, but just two have been arrested so far.

At Bredasdorp magistrates court, Davids said his arrest had been a case of mistaken identity, as there is another man with a nickname Zwai living in a nearby town.

According to South Africa's Independent Online, Sergeant Dolene Oliver, who was the first investigating officer on the case, told the court: "I went to sit on steps next to her bed and asked whether she could hear me. She said yes.

"I could see she was assaulted ... her eyes were swollen shut, there was dry blood behind her ears and there was sand at the front of her hairline. Her cheeks were also purple.

"She told [a paramedic] that it was five to six people who did it to her and that she knew them. She said she knew them and that it was 'Zwai' and his friends from Kleinbegin."

Prima facie against accused

Oliver also said the stains found on Davids' shoes were blood, adding that they are doing tests to find out whose blood it was.

Maria Marshall, prosecuting, said witnesses have linked Booysen to Davids the night she was attacked. She said blood and semen found at the scene also connect Davids to the murder.

Davids' defence lawyer Pieter du Toit said the other Zwai was found at his home, despite the prosecution saying he had left town a month earlier.

He said the State had a weak case against Davids based on circumstantial evidence, adding that Booysen had been drinking the night she died and had been given morphine when she named Zwai, so her evidence may not have been reliable.

In his ruling, magistrate Graham Cupiso said there were no exceptional circumstances to grant Davids bail: "If you look at the night after the murder, there was disappointment and outrage - not only by community members, but it also sent shock waves around the world.

"Furthermore the violence against women and children in our country is very serious... The court must take this into account. If there wasn't a strong case, it would be unfair to deny bail.

"There is a prima facie against you. If you are released ... people's trust in justice would be questioned."

The second man accused, Johannes Kana, 21, did not apply for bail. Both will stand trial for rape and murder on 22 April. If found guilty, they face life imprisonment.