State cries rape in defilement case

Sharon Mathala | Saturday March 1, 2014 18:43

“The victim was nine years old at the time the incident occurred. This rendered her incapable of giving consent, hence the proper charge should have been rape,” Brown said in the case in which the man is appealing the 10-year sentence he got in 2010 for defiling his then nine-year-old cousin. It is alleged that the incident occurred when the man visited the young girl’s home, where she was staying with her mother. At the Court of Appeal this week, the man pleaded for a postponement because he could not get hold of his lawyer. He said prison officials do not allow him to use phones.

“I have not been able to contact my lawyer because in prison, we do not have the luxury of using phones. I have long written a letter but I have not received any response,” he said.

Justice Elijah Legwaila ordered that the said lawyer should be called to confirm whether the allegations by the appellant are true. The lawyer was contacted by phone and told the court that he was no longer representing the appellant. Legwaila ordered that the appellant should be given time to find another lawyer.