Roebuck ruined my life, says victim

Itai Gondo, a student whose complaint about alleged sexual harassment prompted cricket columnist Peter Roebuck to commit suicide, has come out in open for the first time and confirmed that the former Somerset captain sexually assaulted him when the two met in a Cape Town hotel after days of correspondence through Facebook.

"I was in shock and told myself that it couldn't be happening," Gondo was quoted as saying by The Sun. "He (Roebuck) has ruined my life," said Gondo.

Gondo, a Zimbabwean refugee, said that he approached Roebuck through a university pal who knew one of 17 "adopted sons" who live at a 10-bedroom home in Pietermaritzburg, run by the writer.

Gondo said Roebuck spent days luring him through the social networking site, The Sun reported.

The victim said during the exchanges, Roebuck asked him to refer to him as "dad" and spoke of his devotion to his "sons" and offered to give him help with the university fees.

The two finally met in Roebuck's hotel in Cape Town and spoke for hours before the cricket writer allegedly pinned him to the bed and launched a sex assault. The attack only stopped when Gondo's mobile phone rang.

Gondo later alerted the cops of what had conspired between the two and when the police came to arrest Roebuck he plunged from his hotel window to his death.