DURBAN, Jan 28, 2004

South African judge Sirajuddin Desai, accused of raping an AIDS activist from his own country at a Mumbai hotel during the World Social Forum meet, has gone into "hiding" to take stock of the allegations levelled against him.

A spokesperson for the judge’s family said on Monday that Desai, his wife and other members of the family had gone to a holiday home to reflect on the allegations of rape made against him.

He said Desai had switched off his phone and would not answer any questions about his future in the judiciary.

Desai, who returned to Cape Town on Sunday, said it had been the "most difficult" period in his life.

Desai was arrested but then granted bail by a sessions court in Mumbai on January 23, which observed that the case appeared to be one of consensual sex and not rape.

Source: The Times of India