Serial rape convict denied bail

Lebogang Mosikare | Tuesday May 15, 2018 12:28

 

The applicant, Thatayaone Nka, 29, dubbed the Forest Evil rapist because he committed most of the offences in the forest after giving his victims a lift in his car and violently raping them, is yet to go on trial for other similar offences. 

Nka was sentenced by the then Principal Magistrate Dumisani Basupi last year, who is now working at the High Court in Gaborone within the Administration of Justice (AoJ). 

Nka applied for bail stating that he did not get a fair trial before Basupi because Basupi knows his mother. 

He added that Basupi met his mother when they attended a course at Otse Police College some years back. 

Nka’s other reason for application for bail pending appeal was that Basupi was once in love with his aunt hence he may have been harbouring ill motives when he sentenced him. 

However, Nka’s reasons for the application for bail did not convince the presiding magistrate, Kaveri Kapeko. 

Kapeko said even though it may be true for whatever reason that Basupi and Nka’s mother once attended a course together, he did not see how that might have made Basupi biased against him. 

Kapeko said he considered the convictions in both counts fair and reasonable because Nka used violence when he committed the offences. 

Last year Nka made a similar application for Basupi to rescue himself on the grounds that Basupi could be biased towards the state and insensitive to his needs. 

Basupi then said that he found the allegation to be baseless and unfounded before dismissing it. 

Said Basupi then: “I don’t see how attending a short court course with the accused’s mother a long time back would influence me to be biased towards him. The allegations raised by the accused are unfounded and baseless.  His application is therefore dismissed in its entirety”.