Dewani suspect tells of police assault
Cape Town - Police officers assaulted a man into confessing to tourist Anni Dewani's murder, the Western Cape High Court heard on Monday.
Xolile Mngeni, 25, testifying in his own defence, said he was taken to the basement of a police building after her death in November 2010 and severely assaulted.
"They put me into a certain place downstairs where there are some water pipes. There was one table in there and one chair, there was some blood on the floor," he said.
"They took my head, tied it to the back of a chair, took a plastic bag and put in pepper spray. They put that onto my face and I vibrated as if I was fitting [having a fit].
"The others were kicking me and others trampling."
He said he was then stripped and his testicles slammed into a desk drawer.
Mngeni has pleaded not guilty to robbing, hijacking, and killing Dewani in Gugulethu on 13 November 2010.
He took the stand as the first witness in the defence's case.
Judge Robert Henney asked why Mngeni was only testifying now about the assault.
He said the evidence should have been given during the trial-within-a-trial to determine the admissibility of Mngeni's confession.
Henney had ruled the statement could be admitted as evidence.
"The court can ignore this. You can't now present evidence of the confession."
The trial continues.
SAPA
