Judgment day for Masilo

Sharon Mathala | Wednesday November 26, 2014 17:24

 

In his submissions yesterday, Ngakaagae said Masilo, who has pleaded not guilty to the charges, was sticking to his defence that he was neither at the scene nor attacked the complainant.

“The accused denies the charges. He denies ever being at the scene let alone robbing the complainant at knifepoint, raping her or using any violence against her.

“The accused was seeing the complainant and her brother for the first time in court when they appeared to give evidence,” the lawyer said.

Ngakaagae said that the complainant and her brother, who testified that he burst in on the crime and wrestled with Masilo, were unreliable witnesses who were “hopelessly destitute of both accurate recollection and credibility”.

“Firstly they were both far off the mark with regards to the apparent age of the assailant whom they claim to be the accused,” he said.

“The complainant stated that her assailant was muscular and middle aged and neither observation fits the accused.

“The court also had the occasion to observe him topless at the instance of the defence and the allegation of him being muscular or ever having being was emphatically proven to be false,” he said.

Ngakaagae said the witnesses failed to pick on the prominent features of their assailant, which include “a very flat nose” and “an unmistakably bean-shaped head”.

“They seemed intent to implicate the accused even when that went against their own narratives. They demonstrated a propensity to aggravate the extent of their predicament,” he said.

Further, Ngakaagae said even going with the complainant’s testimony, she had not been raped, but had been indecently assaulted through the insertion of a finger into her private parts.

He said there was also no credible evidence of robbery and the witnesses could not agree on the amount of money stolen.

“It is gravely doubtable if anything was ever taken from the house at all by whomsoever attacked the complainant,” said Ngakaagae, arguing for his client’s acquittal. For his part, prosecutor, Kutlo Tshekane, said the state had adequately proved the case against Masilo beyond a shadow of a doubt and that the facts would lead a reasonable person to find him guilty.

“It can be submitted that the evidence adduced by the State is highly probable so as to leave a reasonable person with no doubt that the accused person has indeed committed the offence with which he is charged,” he said.

Tshekane added that Masilo has produced an alibi statement five months after the case had been registered in court and that an uncle mentioned as having been with the accused in Shoshong on the day of the crime, subsequently withdrew his claim.

“The accused made no mention of the alibi defence and the defence simply abandoned the allegations of a fabricated alibi. One would have thought that after rigorously pursuing this detailed alibi, the defence would pursue it to the very end.

“The only inference to be drawn therefore is that this alibi is a complete and utter fabrication,” Tshekane said.

The State alleges that the 22-year-old former Botho University student brutally raped and robbed a woman in her Phase IV home on August 9, 2012, causing her grievous bodily harm in the process.