Maun Magistrates Court have convicted a 36-year-old Sehithwa man of raping his girlfriend’s mother at knifepoint.
Weeya Revero is said to have visited the 48-year-old woman at her home in Semboyo settlement on the evening of 6 January 2019.
Sitting round the fireplace chatting and drinking alcohol amicably, the booze reportedly went to Revero’s head and he forced himself upon the older lady.
It was heard that he locked the children inside the house, before offering the victim P50 in exchange for sex. When she declined, he brandished a knife, ordered her to undress and then raped her.
Although Revero insisted the act was consensual, Chief Magistrate, Thebeetsile Mulalo ruled that the woman’s version was more believable, especially as her testimony was backed up by other witnesses.
“The victim knew the accused very well as he had a love relationship with her daughter. She told the court that on the day of the incident you locked her children in the house and threw away the keys then forcibly had sexual intercourse with her. She went to report to her neighbours who then called the police,” said Mulalo.
The Magistrate further noted the victim’s neighbour corroborated her story, telling court that on the night in question he was woken by her, semi-naked and extremely distressed.
“He told the court that he was sleeping when he heard a knock at is door. He went out and saw the victim bleeding and half naked. They went to her house but it was locked so they used a spade to open the door, which confirms her allegation that the accused locked the house and threw away the keys because he did not want the children to disturb what he planned to do. They also found a knife at the scene of crime,” added Mulalo.
The knife was taken to the Forensic lab, where test showed it contained the victim’s DNA.
“The Doctor reached an opinion of rape on the evidence of struggle. Her clothes were dirty and she had a cut on her chin. He agreed that a knife could have been used looking at the nature of the cut,” continued Mulalo.
Maintaining his innocence, Revero insisted his mother-in-law had cooked up the rape story as she felt ashamed about sleeping with her daughter’s boyfriend. He further claimed he had given her P50 to buy sugar for her children.
His defence failed to impress the Magistrate, however, who found him guilty of rape. Revero will be sentenced this Thursday (23 June).
The matter has been set for 23rd June for sentencing.
