Escapes jail with P30k fine
A short-tempered mum who landed in hot soup for forcing her 13-year- old daughter to eat cockroaches before assaulting her with an electric cable left court a relieved woman on Tuesday, after paying her P30, 000 fine.
Although she disputed the facts, the 45-year-old Molepolole native, who resides at Gamodubu village with her teenage daughter, pleaded guilty to cruel treatment of children.
Following her conviction, she was hit with a P30k penalty – the minimum charge possible – during sentencing on Thursday, with Molepolole Magistrates Court warning failure to pay before 2 March would see her jailed for seven years.
She managed to stump up the cash within three working days, bringing a swift end to the looming threat of prison.
When passing sentence, Chief Magistrate Thebeetsile Mulalu considered that the accused confessed her guilt, which he took as a sign of remorse.
The Magistrate further noted the guilty plea saved court both time and resources.
Despite this, Mulalu stressed it would not be right to let the suspect go scot free.
“This type of offence is prevalent in this jurisdiction; it is also an element of domestic violence together with Gender Based Violence, the offences that have now mushroomed in our country. The court of law has to do their part to make sure the situation is under control,” said the magistrate.
According to Children’s Act section 63, the fine for such an offence is between P30, 000 to P50, 000, with the possibility of seven to ten years imprisonment as well.
Chief Magistrate Mulalu noted that while the accused went overboard in disciplining her child, the little girl, currently undergoing counseling, still needs her mother’s support.
For her part, during mitigation, the repentant mum, who cannot be named to protect the victim’s identity, said she regretted her actions, admitting to going overboard when disciplining her only daughter.
“I will never do that again, it was a mistake that I can’t understand what was happening. I’m shocked,” confessed the Ministry of Child Welfare and Basic Education employee, adding sending her to prison would result in her losing her job, which would ultimately harm her daughter.
Even though she pleaded guilty, the mum, who works as a Procurement Officer, maintained she never actually made her child eat any cockroaches, and only threatened her with them.
She also claimed to have beaten her little girl with two sticks and a curtain rope, and not an electric cable as the charge sheet suggested.
The ordeal came to light in early January when the girl’s father went to check on his child and she confided in him.
