17 Jan 2017

A 30-year-old man Olebogeng Molefhe has been sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for raping a girl aged 14.

The man who hails from Moremi ward in Gweta village was sentenced by Maun chief magistrate Taboka Mopipi on Monday.

When sentencing him, Chief Magistrate Mopipi said rape was a serious offence. She said the complainant was only 14-years-old therefore expected protection not abuse from the accused who was 28-years-old at the time of the offence.

Chief Magistrate Mopipi said she had considered what the accused had said in mitigation; that he was a sole bread winner and of ill health. However, she said there were no exceptional extenuating circumstances to lessen the sentence to below the prescribed sentence of 10 years.

The sentence effected from January 13, 2017 when the suspect was incarcerated, she said.

Facts presented before the courts were that on January 15, 2015, the accused had requested the complainant to show him direction to some place he was not familiar with.

However, on their way back from the said place just before reaching the girl’s homestead, the accused then dragged the complainant to a bushy passageway where he instructed her to undress before raping her. BOPA