Man charged for raping a mentally unfit boy

Lebogang Mosikare | Thursday January 29, 2015 16:14

 

It is alleged that Joshua indecently assaulted a mentally unstable teenager on June 19, 2012.

He has denied the charge.

When the trial resumed yesterday, the State witness Dr Charles Malama told the court that he examined the complainant and found nothing linking Joshua with the offence.

 'Although my findings show that anal sex was performed on the complainant, I cannot say for sure that it was the accused who performed a sexual act on the complainant, save to say that the complainant was penetrated. I sent my findings to the police forensic laboratory for further investigations,' said Dr. Malama.

However, the magistrate reminded Joshua that the state has established a prima facie case against him, and as such he was enjoined to prove his innocence.

Joshua told the court that on June 23, 2012, police came to his house and ordered him to accompany them to the police station to discuss the charges he is currently facing.

He said that at the time of the alleged incident, he was with his girlfriend at Dumela Estates. Under cross-examination from Evelyn Chalegwa, Joshua denied knowing the complainant even though they were staying together in the same yard.

Joshua's girlfriend Tamapo Joseph told the court that she heard about the incident from the complainant's grandmother while they were working at Ipelegeng in the morning of June 17, 2012.

The witness said that the complainant’s grandmother described his attacker as tall and well built.

Joseph added: 'The following day another woman we work with at Ipelegeng told me and the victim's grandmother that she escaped an attack by a man of similar features earlier in the day,” she said, adding that the duo then went to report the matter to the police.

Chalegwa then told Joseph that she was surprised that she was giving a different date from what other witnesses had said.

Chalegwa then added that Joseph was deliberately misleading the court in order to exonerate her boyfriend from the matter before closing cross-examination.