Salome Isaacs, the woman who laid a charge of rape against prominent South African Judge Siraj Desai, secretly escaped the media waiting at Johannesburg International airport for her return from Mumbai, India, on Wednesday morning.
Isaacs, who laid the charge while attending the World Social Forum in the Indian city, was due to arrive at the airport on Wednesday, but her husband Mark had made arrangements with airport management for a secret rendezvous in a basement of the airport, a Sapa reporter on the scene said.
Fellow passenger on the flight, former African National Congress Women’s League President Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, told journalists that Isaacs had come across as stable on the flight but ”obviously looked the part of a victim”.
”This is very upsetting to all parties, and I have tried to give support to both sides,” Madikizela-Mandela said.
She had met Desai before leaving India and he looked ”alright but was obviously traumatised by what was going on”.
She added that Desai was a personal friend who had represented many apartheid victims in court, and found the matter upsetting and difficult.
However, the matter should be left to the courts of the country involved, Madikizela-Mandela said.
Isaacs’ husband had been spotted earlier in the morning by members of the large media contingent, but he refused to comment, saying he had to discuss the matter with his lawyers first.
Isaacs has previously made several statements on the matter, including that he had asked the judge to ask for forgiveness for the alleged attack.
Desai is expected to remain in India initially while the investigation proceeds. – Sapa