Hospital rape: man in court

A man accused of raping a teenage mother in her maternity ward bed just hours after she gave birth has appeared in court.

The incident at St Mary’s Private Hospital was reported to police this week.

National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Luxolo Tyali said the man, 30, made his first appearance on Thursday in the Mthatha magistrate’s court.

The case was postponed to October 2 for a bail application. He remains in custody until then.

“He is charged with rape or alternatively sexual assault.

“This means if the state fails in convincing the magistrate on the charge of rape, the sexual assault charge would kick in,” Tyali said.

The man was arrested by the Mthatha police on Monday at 12.30pm inside the hospital, after a 17-year-old new mother complained she was raped.

The Life Healthcare Group hospital has launched an internal investigation into how a man posing as a doctor gained entry to the private facility.

In a statement on Thursday, Life Healthcare Eastern Cape regional manager Bruce Janssens said: “The maternity ward is access-controlled; however, the [man] proceeded to enter the ward together with a group of visitors of another patient.

“We are urgently revisiting our protocols to understand what further steps can be taken to mitigate against the possibility of such an incident reoccurring in the future.”

Janssens said nurses at the hospital called the police after the victim raised the alarm.

“The incident was of a sexual nature, which Life Healthcare finds deeply disturbing,” he said.

The man was still in the hospital when police arrived and the patient identified him.

“He was arrested on the spot,” Janssens said.

“The hospital employs the services of a security company and the appropriate number of guards are allocated to secure the hospital and its premises.”