Child rape, murder accused to know fate soon
Lebogang Mosikare | Wednesday April 20, 2022 11:18
Khoto, an ex-aircraft marshall at the State-owned entity, allegedly committed the offences at Nyamambisi River in Marobela village after his relationship with his ex-girlfriend, Unami Sibanda, went sour.
Unami is Metlha’s mother.
The passing of the judgement was previously twice postponed because Khoto’s attorney, Kgosietsile Ngakaagae was not available in court because he was not aware of the dates that the court had set in his absence.
Khoto had however, denied raping the minor who was attending school at Our Lady of the Desert Primary School. This is despite the findings of a medical scientist who examined Metlha’s corpse having concluded that a DNA profile obtained from the anorectal swabs relating to Khoto could not be excluded as a possible contributor to the mixed DNA profile found on the deceased.
Khoto had previously told the court that he accidentally murdered Metlha while still in the middle of a bad dream. The accused stated that during the nightmare, he was strangling another person only to find out that he had accidentally strangled Metlha after he woke up.
Evidence led by the police during the trial revealed that after Khoto killed Metlha, he later led the police to Nyamambisi where he had buried her. Another State witness, Dr Paul Sidandi, a psychiatrist at Jubilee Mental Hospital, told the court that he examined Khoto on the orders of a magistrate who handled the matter before it was committed to the High Court for trial.
The magistrate had made an order that Khoto undergoes a psychiatric evaluation to determine if he was fit or unfit to stand trial. Sidandi said that after he examined Khoto, he found that Khoto was fit to stand trial although he was suffering from a mild form of depression.
“In my opinion, I found out that the patient was suffering from mild depression, which was caused by social problems although he was fit to stand trial. I recommended that he should attend psychological and psycho-social sessions. In addition, I recommended that he should continue taking anti-depressants,” Sidanda explained.