Father allegedly raped the victim on various occasions in 2020
Victim raped by the father at night, and her brother the following morning
The minor contracted STI for a while
Father claims innocence
Shocking revelation that surfaced in an ongoing trial before the Maun Magistrate’s Court, report that a 12-year-old young girl was allegedly raped by both her father and brother at Tsau village in 2020.
The trial commenced this week for the 46-year-old father, who is a traditional doctor, while his 14-year-old son’s case is currently being handled by social workers and other relevant stakeholders as he is minor, while the complainant has been given refugee at a Children’s home.
Maun Principal Magistrate Thebeetsile Mulalu on Wednesday revealed that the father has a rape case to answer, noting that the accused person will be given an opportunity to give evidence to prove his innocence.
This is after the Investigating Officer (IO) Detective Sergeant Onalethata Mothapisi gave evidence to prove that the accused person was guilty of a rape offence.
The accused person, who maintained his innocence during trial is alleged to have raped his daughter on various occasions for a period of two years at their home in Tsau. It is alleged that on the night of August 21, 2020 the accused person raped his daughter while she was asleep. It also surfaced that the following morning the victim’s 14-year-old brother also allegedly raped her before she went to school.
According to details revealed in court, the matter was reported to the police by the victim’s teacher and Safety and Health officer on August 22, 2020. This reportedly followed the doctor’s establishment at Tsau clinic that the victim had a sexually transmitted infection (STI) which she seemed to have had for a while.
The IO told court that before the incident was reported they were already investigating another matter in which the same victim was treated for STIs after she was allegedly raped by another suspect. Mothapisi revealed that when interrogating the victim about the previous rape case it surfaced that she was forced to lie about the perpetrator, and it later became apparent that he had actually raped the victim.
According to the IO, the alleged suspect when questioned claimed innocence and indicated that he suspects the victim’s father to be the one who abuses the victim.
The accused person has however argued that her daughter was once raped, hence him and her mother only met the police during investigations of the matter and later met the investigating officer on the day of his arrest, adding he did not know what he had done to be arrested.
The accused, who had previously indicated that he will conduct his own defense has since changed, and told court that he wants to engage an attorney fearing that the case might jeopardise his liberty though he is innocent. The traditional doctor highlighted that he does not have any witnesses since he only stays with his children and his wife.
The accused person will appear again on May 24, where he will bring his attorney. This follows the court’s decision yesterday to allow him to engage an attorney.
