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WATCH | CCTV footage of 'bedroom assault' on wife, daughter lands Cape Town man in court

Warning: Sensitive content

A businessman recorded on home CCTV footage allegedly beating his wife in bed as their daughter tries to shield her has appeared in a Cape Town court on charges of assault.

AfriForum’s private prosecution unit is acting on behalf of the mother and child in the gender-based violence case which dates from 2018 when the mother opened a case of assault against her husband.

He was arrested and later granted bail.

AfriForum said “years of physical and emotional abuse had taken its toll on the woman and her daughter” and her attorney told the prosecutor at the time that they were emotionally unfit to testify. The case was withdrawn.

However, the woman subsequently met the lobby group’s private prosecution unit after the release of video footage last year depicting Nicoleen Swart being assaulted by her husband Jaco Swart in Pretoria and has agreed to proceed with the case.

The surveillance footage will form part of the evidence against the man who appeared in the Bellville magistrate’s court on Tuesday.

It depicts a man, woman and child in bed. The man gets up and appears to assault the woman as the child tries to intervene. The woman is dragged off the bed by her hair and held down on the floor.

The identities of the parties are being withheld to protect the child.

Barry Bateman, the unit’s spokesperson, thanked the National Prosecuting Authority for placing the case back on the roll. “We will keep a close eye on this case to ensure justice is done,” he said.

“We appeal to victims of gender-based violence to speak out and seek support. There will always be someone to stand by your side, like our unit which has assisted many women in similar positions.”

The case was postponed to February 16.

TimesLIVE