Defilement cases overwhelm Tutume police

PINI BOTLHOKO
Correspondent | Thursday May 10, 2012 00:00

Defilement cases in the village are said to be high, with children as young as nine to 15 years of age being sexually abused. Jorowe said that he is confused by this trend, as he is yet to understand what satisfaction some men derive from sleeping with young children.

'This year it is worse because we have recorded three cases of defilement in a month and the numbers are still increasing, he said. Jorowe said on Monday they received a report that a 15-year-old girl was sexually abused by a man estimated to be aged between 18-20, who is a a student at Nswazwi Brigade.

'The two are said to have met at a bar on Sunday night. They decided to go to the boy's place, where they spent the night together and even had sexual intercourse,' he said.

He said that the young girl said that she was from Francistown, where she goes to school, and had visited the Nswazi village to spend the weekend with her parents. Later on that night she went out to look for her friend and ended up at the bar where she met the suspect.

'She came home the following morning and her parents questioned her on where she had slept and she mentioned the suspect's name. After questioning her, they brought her to the police to report the matter, ' said Jorowe.

He said that the girl was taken to the doctor who examined her and explained that she had sex twice that night. She was discharged the same day.  'The girl did not deny having sexual intercourse with the man and even revealed that they used protection, ' said Jorowe. He went on to say that the suspect is in police custody in order to assist with investigations.

'Three weeks ago two girls, one nine years of age and another 15 years old were reported to have been sexually used,' noted Jorowe.  He said that in all these cases, the people who committed the offence have not yet been arrested but investigations are still ongoing. He said after committing the offence they ran away and the victims do not know them personally.  Jorowe said parents should not leave teenage girls under the care of males even if they are relatives because in most cases girls are sexually abused by their relatives. 'Some men do not have the heart to consider these girls as children.They see them as women, especially when looking at their body structure, ' he said. Meanwhile, another 15-year-old girl of Manjane ward in Tutume was sexually used by her uncle on April 26, 2012 in a house where they were both live with the girl's grandmother.  'The teenage girl alleged that her uncle has been molesting her since February and he did not use a condom when he penetrated her. She claimed that she had reported the matter to other relatives who told her not to tell people about the incident. However, on April 26 she decided to report the matter to the social workers who then reported it to us ' revealed Jorowe. He said that the man is in police custody while awaiting court appearance. In yet another incident a woman aged 37 of Madikwe ward in Tutume was raped in her house on April 24, 2012.

'The woman said that while she was asleep at night, a man entered her house through the window and raped her twice, using a condom. She said the man assaulted her, while holding an item which looked like a knife, before raping her,' said Jorowe. He urged people to ensure that their windows are closed before sleeping and that they should get dogs to beef up their personal security.

He said that the Tutume police are working with the BDF and Immigration Officers to arrest illegal immigrants in the village, because their investigations have shown that they contribute to the offences.

'The operation started two weeks ago and we have arrested 16 illegal immigrants, all of them from Zimbabwe,' he said.