Sexual offences rise in Letlhakane
Pini Bothoko | Monday January 29, 2024 09:51
For years, Letlhakane has been the hub of social ills such as rape, defilement, just to mention but a few. The nerve-wreaking trend has become a norm despite several interventions by the police and other stakeholders to nip rape incidents in the bud. Besides being boosted by mines in the outskirts of the village, Letlhakane with a population of more than 26, 000 remains a rural setting surrounded by cattle posts, which its herdsmen usually the perpetrators of these sexual offences.
The police have in the past highlighted that most of the perpetrators of rape and defilement in the area were illiterate with some being school dropouts and did not care about the rule of law especially gender-based Violence (GBV) related issues. It is believed that historically, according to the inhabitants’ traditions and beliefs, it was not wrong for an elderly to either impregnate a minor or sexually molest any minor as assailants for years remained unpunished. That has resulted in most culprits going unpunished as the victims or even the family of the victims not reporting such cases.
However, as the area developed with mines opening in the area, anti-rape campaigns aimed at changing community attitude towards violence against women and girls, community forums, and kgotla meetings were held in an effort to curb the scourge but this plight remains a nightmare as it persists and thereby keeping the police busy.
As the year 2024 has just kicked in, the Letlhakane police have already recorded four cases of sexual offences against minors, something that worries the police as they fear these cases might be resurfacing yet again. This past week, residents were left reeling in shock after a 48-year-old man of Tawana ward was arrested for allegedly raping his 10-year-old daughter, a sexual offence believed to have been occurring for almost a month now. When cleaning the little girl’s bedroom, the victim’s mother was alerted about the offence after discovering used condoms in her room and when interrogating her, the minor disclosed to have been sexually assaulted by her own father for quite some time.
Still in the Letlhakane policing area, the police recorded yet another shocking incident after a 70-year-old man of Mosu, a kgosana, was arrested for allegedly raping a six-year-old neighbour’s child. Both culprits are currently in custody pending investigations. Back in January 2022, Letlhakane police issued a warning as they believe a serial rapist is on the loose following the eruption of strings of rape cases. Then, the alleged rapist would pounce on women prepared for the action either dressed in a sleeping gown with nothing underneath or a boxer short and in possession of condoms. In the same month, the police had recorded 15 rape cases, something that forced them (the police) to strengthen their patrols that later led to the arrest of a 22-year-old Austin Letsholo of Tawana ward a month later charged with eight counts of rape and a robbery case. Alcohol abuse has since been identified to be playing a major role in most rapes as most of the victims were raped after drinking sprees by the people they had spent the day or night with drinking alcohol, with some being attacked while walking alone from entertainment places.
The police have since argued that everyone has the right to live their lives freely, condemning men who are mostly the perpetrators to respect themselves and to know that ‘No means No’ hence public education cannot not be emphasised enough as inflicting pain on women and minors brings lifetime trauma as victims go though painful emotions. Moreover, it should be known that raping a minor questions our moral principle as a nation. Survivors of these social ills also face extremely difficult, painful emotions and experiences that they struggle to cope with for a very long time. Not only is Letlhakane overwhelmed with these cases, most areas in Botswana continue to register high cases of rape and defilement, something that is keeping the police on their toes even at national level as they are battling to curb this scourge. In 2020, the police recorded 1, 825 cases of defilement while 2, 033 were recorded in 2021 and 2, 059 in 2022.
This past festive season a total of 87 rape cases were recorded, marking an average of five people sexually exploited each day across the country. In an effort to help curb the scourge, the government has increased penalties against sexual offences. As of September 15, 2023, those convicted of defilement where they are convicted of sexually abusing children below the age of 18, the minimum sentence is now 20 years or a maximum of life in prison. Equally, under the new penalties, if offenders are found to have had HIV and they were unaware, the minimum penalty is 25 years but if they were aware of their status, the minimum sentence is now 30 years in the slammer. Further making sure they deter any acts of violence against children, the government also stipulated that penalties of an attempt of rape should also be enhanced.
The minimum charge is now 15 years or to a maximum of life. The new Act says once convicted of rape, the convicts may now spend the rest of his or her life in prison. “..., any person who has been charged with the offence of rape shall, subject to Sub Sections (2) and (4), upon conviction be sentenced to a minimum terms of 20 years imprisonment or a maximum term of life imprisonment,” reads the Act. In addition, if the rape according to court findings also resulted in violence or injury to the victim, the perpetrator will have a minimum sentence of 25 years or to a maximum life imprisonment with or without corporal punishment. Furthermore, the new Act says if the perpetrator is found to be HIV positive and was unaware, they would also get a minimum of 25 years and maximum life sentence in prison. But if the perpetrator knew of the disease according to the Act, the minimum sentence will now be 30 years and maximum life sentence in prison. Quizzed about the cases, Kgosi Baruntshi Kegapetswe of Letlhakane revealed to be overwhelmed by the rise in rape and defilement as the village leadership, stating that their efforts with the help of the police continue to be unsuccessful. “We do not know what could be the problem as despite our efforts to sensetise the public about these cases, the police continue to register these cases at a high rate.
We do not know if the influx of people in the area who look for greener pastures could have escalating the problem or not. The two recent cases where a father and a village leader are alleged to have sexually assaulted minors left the whole village in shock and even though it is still regarded as allegations, the reports are embarrassing and have left us disappointed. This does not reflect us well as the village,” he said. Kgosi Kegapetswe further identified most cases as date rape as the perpetrators are often casual friends, or individuals who victims are familiar with and would have spent the night together drinking alcohol and late the woman would open a rape case whilst the perpetrators would claim to have obtained consent from the victims and even accused them of extortion. He added that abuse of alcohol and drugs also contribute to the rise in rape and defilement cases in the area as the inhabitants have the habit of abusing alcohol as the area has lots of entertainment places and shebeens that even operate beyond stipulated hours. “Some perpetrators would later blame the use of drugs to have contributed to their acts.
They would on the fateful night have spent the night drinking alcohol in shebeens and would then later sexually assault each other on the way home or after arriving at home. Some women are attacked and raped late at night while walking alone from shebeens by the people they had spent the night with or strangers they meet on the way.
These usually occur at the cattle posts,” he said. Asked if some people’s educational background could be contributing to the rise in these cases, Kegapetswe said no one is ignorant of the law despite their background and being illiterate is not an excuse to commit an offense. He said together with the police they frequently visit cattle posts surrounding the village to sensitise herdsmen and dwellers about these cases but their efforts continue to hit a snag. However, he said they will not despair as they continue to hold forums, community outreach and men’s dialogues near entertainment areas and at the cattle posts as it has been proven that most cases of GBV are committed by people under the influence of alcohol. He stated that concerned by the cases, they have since intensified public education targeting perpetrators in making sure that they transform their behaviour.
Furthermore, Kegapetswe called on parents not to sweep defilement cases under the carpet, encouraging victims to continue reporting rape, not to choose to suffer its effects alone and in silence. For his part, the Botswana Police Service (BPS) spokesperson, Assistant Commissioner Dipheko Motube said the country is faced with a big social problem of rape as men continue to violate women as they please and Letlhakane village has not been spared. Asked if Letlhakane is the country’s rape capital as alleged, Motube said despite Letlhakane recording high cases of sexual offences, it should be understood that crime goes along with population stating that some areas with high population like south-central district that covers Greater Gaborone frequently record high numbers of rape cases as compared to the Boteti area. He noted with great concern the increase of rape cases, especially that their interventions seem to be falling into deaf ears.
However, he said as the police they would not despair to fight the scourge at national level so that men in Botswana could also enjoy their lives free of rapists.