The Francistown Magistrate Court on Tuesday sentenced 34-year-old choreographer Shathani Elliot to 15 years in prison for raping his former girlfriend’s daughter; not once but twice.
Elliot’s unquenchable sexual appetite led him to double cross his 51-year-old ex-girlfriend with her 14-year-old Form Two daughter. In what he purported to be a love affair, Elliot told the court he had a short stint with the minor, only to call it off because he felt it was wrong.
A case in which Principal Magistrate Kabelo Magetse said, “is a wake-up call to single mothers to be extra vigilant when choosing partners as a way to mitigate exposing their children to paedo-philes.”
“This court has painstakingly, extensively unpacked in the simplest format and covered all aspects of this case. The evidence is overwhelming and showed the accused person to be a paedophile.”
According to evidence led in court, the dancer is said to have raped the teenage girl two days in succession behind a primary school in Mathangwane in May 2020.
“The accused came to our home and asked me to accompany him in my mother’s car. I did so because l was escorting him to his place, and not the river. He drove behind the primary school and parked by the river,” narrated the student.
“He then tried to kiss me but l refused. Because I regarded him as a parent. He then reclined the passenger seat, undressed himself and me, and climbed on top of me,” she recalled.
She further told court that the accused then had sexual intercourse without her consent.
“When l got home, I did not tell anyone what had happened to me.”
The next day Elliot took the girl to the river and raped her again in the motor vehicle.
“I tried to push him but he overpowered me with his weight. The next day I had a discharge, it was smelly and my vagina was itching. I never consented to the two sexual intercourse encoun-ters. Shathi is one man I looked up to as an older brother. He has a child, he too would not allow a man to have sex with his child”, explained the girl while be crossed.
She denied there was ever a love affair between Elliot and herself or her consenting to being in-timate with him.
“Shathani knew I was in junior secondary school at the time. He used to come home often.”
Four days after the ordeal, the young girl opened up to a neighbor, a traditional doctor and told him what her mother’s boyfriend had raped her. This is how the neighbor called the girl’s uncles and her mother.
“Since I was raped, I am no longer comfortable around men. I don’t like hanging around with my friends at school anymore I just prefer being indoors” ended the girl.
In his defense, Elliot said he did not know the girl was below 18 years. “Yes we kissed, I insert-ed my fingers into her private parts twice on two days.”
To justify consent with an under 18 year girl, the accused said, “bana ba malatsing ano bagola thata and baitse dilo thata.( children of these days grow so big and they know a lot of things).”
He said despite being the adult and older person and should have known right from wrong. He inserted his fingers into the minor’s private parts because he was under the spell of love (Ene le sedidi sa lorato).
Magistrate Magetse however expressed concern, “as to how many children (who have not yet dared to come forward and report him) he defiled all because of his earlier noted thoughts. For-tunately, children’s exposure to a paedophile stops today and they can be rest assured that their community’s children justice system. though it was slow but has at last acted.”
