Former South African cricketer Dion Taljard jailed in rape case

Former South African cricketer Dion Taljard has been sentenced jail for 18 years after being found guilty in a rape case. He represented Border in first-class cricket between 1993 and 1999 but could never play for his country. Dion later relocated to the United Kingdom and played club cricket in Oldham and Manchester as well as in Scotland and Wales.

Dion was born in East London, Cape Province and played first-class cricket only for a brief period for his domestic team Border. He came into the spotlight after taking a hat-trick against a touring Pakistan side in 1998. In his short career, he played 25 first-class matches and scalped 60 wickets at an average of 30.93. He went on to play in 6 List A games in which he could pick only 3 wickets. He could not contribute much with the bat in any of his games as 32 was the best score in his career.

Repeated attack

According to Daily Mail, Taljard was found guilty of raping an unnamed woman 150 times over a period of 10 years between 2002 and 2012. It was also reported that he repeatedly attacked the women while drunk and he would grip her around the throat while saying things like “you will comply”. The woman who was at the receiving end all these years had also tried to take her own life at one stage. But she finally came forward after the attacks ended.

However, he has maintained his innocence and claimed that the victim is lying. Members close to him have also come in support of Dion Taljard claiming that he is innocent. Some of his family and friends have set up an online campaign seeking to raise money for him in an effort to clear his name. For now, though, he has been found guilty in a serious case of rape and has been sentenced jail for 18 years.