Dros rape case: Month for psych experts to assess accused's mental state

A team at Weskoppies Psychiatric Hospital will over the next 30 days evaluate the mental state of the man accused of raping a child at the Dros restaurant in Pretoria.

Non-profit organisation Women and Men Against Child Abuse (WMACA) stated that three psychiatrists and one psychologist will be evaluating the accused.

The case is due back in court on February 8.

The 20-year-old man has been in custody since September last year, when he allegedly raped a seven-year-old-girl in a Dros restaurant.

At a November court hearing, his Legal Aid attorney Riaan du Plessis claimed that there was a history of mental illness in the accused’s family‚ that the accused had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder in January 2013, and that he had undergone treatment for substance abuse as a teenager.

Du Plessis said a psychiatrist advised him that the accused had harmed himself. “My instructions are that they were indeed suicide attempts from the accused because of severe depression,” he said.

The accused has yet to plead to the charge and therefore cannot be named.