Man found guilty of raping stepdaughter

Lebogang Mosikare | Tuesday December 20, 2016 15:03

 

Recently, two Botswana Defence Force (BDF) soldiers from Area S military garrison appeared in court on charges of raping their respective stepdaughters, with one convicted and awaiting sentence while the other is still being tried. In a similar matter, a 35-year-old man of Shashemooke village was last week convicted by Senior Magistrate Thebeetsile Mulalu of raping his then 12-year-old stepchild in July last year in Shashemooke.

Passing sentence, Mulalu said there was overwhelming evidence to convict the accused-who cannot be named to protect the identity of the victim. Mulalu said during that fateful night, when the accused raped his partner’s daughter, he was sleeping with the victim and her siblings in the same room while their mother was at work. Mulalu said the complainant was awoken by the accused who was busy penetrating her.  The magistrate said the complainant escaped outside the house and  tried to alert her neighbours about her ordeal, but was prevented from doing so by the accused who took her back inside the house and ordered her to sleep.

In the morning, Mulalu said, the complainant told her mother about the incident, who then shared the story with her neighbours. “Her mother’s neighbours wanted the complainant’s mother to solve the matter in the customary way and reconcile with her lover despite what he did to the child. The complainant’s mother and her neighbours then decided to fine the accused P1,000 for his actions. He admitted to the offence, but never paid the money. He instead continued to live with his girlfriend and her children as if nothing had happened. There was no bad blood in the homestead, despite what the accused did,” Mulalu said.

Mulalu said the ‘Kangaroo court’ that handled the matter decided against reporting it to the police in order to protect the accused. Because the ordeal happened when the schools were closed, Mulalu said. The complainant reported the matter to her guidance and counselling teacher after schools reopened.

Mulalu added that the accused and the prosecution both admitted the medical doctor’s medical report form’s findings.

“Although medical experts say that the hymen may be broken by other factors other than sex, I find that in this particular case, the complainant’s hymen was broken when the accused had sex with her without her consent”. Mulalu said that all the state witnesses who gave evidence, including the accused’s mother, said that he initially told them that he indeed had sexual intercourse with the complainant, although he later changed the statement. In conclusion, Mulalu said he was satisfied with the evidence provided and that there was no motive for the complainant to falsely incriminate the accused.

“An order is also made that you be fingerprinted to check if you have previous convictions or not. You are ordered to undergo an HIV/AIDS test”.