A concerned Maun mum has reported her 17-year-old daughter’s private tutor to the police for allegedly sleeping with her underage girl.
The 22-year-old teacher has since been brought in for questioning, as has his boss, the tuition centre’s owner, who is accused of willingly allowing the unlawful affair to take place.
In a brief interview with The Voice, Maun Station Commander, Dennis Zilawe, revealed the mother contacted the cops on Saturday morning shortly after discovering male shoeprints at the entrance of her daughter’s room, which is detached from the main house.
Suspecting the worst, the worried woman confronted her child, who reportedly confessed that the shoeprints belonged to her boyfriend, who is also her private tutor.
“The girl told the mother that she is in a love relationship with her tutor,” explained Zilawe.
On further investigation, the police boss said it was discovered the owner of the tutorial centre, a 35-year-old male, facilitated and initiated the illicit love affair between the learner and his staff member.
“From what we were told, the girl and the tutor started indulging is sexual activities at the 35-year-old’s house,” continued the top cop.
The affair is believed to have started around the time the victim, a Form Five student, was preparing for her final examinations. It seems the tutor would request for the girl to stay behind for extra study time in the evening.
“Due to long hours, sometimes parents would allow the students to spend a night and only collect them in the morning as the study reportedly continued into very late hours of the night. Those are the times when the defilement is said to have taken place,” said Zilawe.
With her exams complete, no longer having a reason for tutorials, the teacher is said to have followed his underage lover to her home, which is how he got caught.
Although they are yet to appear in court, the duo have both been charged – the tutor with defilement and the older man with aiding and abetting defilement – and the matter forwarded to the Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP), who will decide how best to proceed.
“This [defilement] is a serious crime of which if one is found guilty, they face a prison term not less than a period of 10 years,” said Zilawe, adding the stiff punishment has failed to act as a deterrent to would-be offenders, as on average his station receives about 10 defilement cases a month.
Botswana law states anyone under the age of 18 cannot legally consent to having sex; this was passed into law in 2018, when the previous age of consent was 16.
