Illegal abortions peeve Magistrate

Othusitse Khuwa | Tuesday March 21, 2017 15:09

 

This came to the fore when Principal Magistrate, Dumisane Basupi sentenced Pearl David, 20 and Boitumelo Basana, 31, for a single count of procuring an abortion.

Basupi sentenced David and Basana to four years in jail wholly suspended for five years on condition that they do not commit a similar offence within that period. In addition, the court fined the accused P500 payable in seven days failure to which the accused shall serve one year in jail.

David cried when the sentence was read, but sighed with great relief when the magistrate suspended their sentence.

Harrowing details of how Basana used a specially designed stick to help David to abort her five months foetus were revealed in court.

“Basana inserted a stick into David’s genitals and told her not to remove it until she felt pain. She also told David not to remove the stick from her genitals until she saw blood coming out of her genitals…From the above, I am of the view that Basana is an expert in this kind of things,” said a concerned Basupi.

The accused, Basupi said, were first offenders who also pleaded guilty to the offence and did not waste the court’s time, which is a sign of remorse on their part.

“David pleaded with the court to be lenient when sentencing her because she is taking care of her four-year-old child. This four-year-old child is very fortunate because at the time David gave birth to her, Basana was not around with her stick.

Basana said ever since she was found guilty of the offence, she had discovered that crime does not pay. She also said she was led by the devil to commit the offence,” Basupi said.

The Courts, Basupi stated, have a duty to pass sentences that would deter would-be offenders.