Student Claims Roebuck Sexually Assaulted Him Before Suicide

A Zimbabwean IT student has claimed that ABC and Fairfax cricket radio commentator and writer Peter Roebuck sexually assaulted him in a hotel before the former English cricketer committed suicide.

Itai Gondo, 26, told The Sun Thursday he met Roebuck through the social networking site Facebook, where they chatted for days. In one of their online conversations, Gondo, who is a poor refugee, said Roebuck, 55, offered to pay his university fees and asked for a meeting.

Gondo met Roebuck in a Cape Town hotel suite, where the alleged sexual assault took place, Gondo said. Roebuck allegedly pinned Gondo to the bed, but stopped when his mobile phone rang. The student then fled.

Gondo was traumatised by the incident that he thought of committing suicide.

"He has ruined my life," he said, according to The Sun.

Roebuck sent a Facebook message to Gondo the day after their hotel encounter asking if the student was okay. Gondo replied days later with a threat.

"One day the long arm of the law will catch up with your evil misdeeds," The Sun quoted Gondo as telling Roebuck in a Facebook message.

Gondo reported the assault to the police, who went to Roebuck's hotel on Saturday to arrest him. That was when Roebuck jumped to his death from the sixth floor of the Southern Hotel in Newlands.

Roebuck was in Cape Town to cover the Test match between South Africa and Australia.

Police are now checking Roebuck's laptop and his Facebook account as their investigation of the case continues.
Roebuck has 17 adopted sons living at his home in Pietermaritzburg. One of them, Dennis Chadya, said Roebuck, whom they call "Papa," treated them well.

"I did not know him to be that sort of a person and I have known him for six years," Chadya said, according to the Herald Sun.

Roebuck's long-time friend and colleague Mike Coward, does not believe that the suicide victim was a "sexual predator" and described Gondo's claims as "malicious and unfounded."

"He has never been charged, nor has anybody who has worked with Peter made any claim of that nature in 20 or 30 years," said Coward, who is also a cricket journalist.