Two Maun men accused of taking turns to rape a 19-year-old girl over the Easter Holidays will remain behind bars after they were denied bail on Thursday.
Kemofilwe Keokilwe, 21, and Ompolokile Tshekelo, 25, allegedly pounced on their young victim at around 19:45hrs on 29 March, as the teenager waited to catch a taxi to visit her mother.
Reportedly armed with a knife, the duo are said to have dragged the terrified teen to a nearby abandoned house in Moeti ward, where, one after the other, they raped her.
It is said that whilst by the roadside, the child attempted to scream for help from passing cars but they silenced her with slaps.
After the sexual assault, they allegedly took off with her school laptop valued a P3, 000, cellphone and charger worth P500 and P30 cash.
Ensuring the suspects remain on remand, Investigating Officer (IO), Rhuka Dinyando revealed both men were a flight risk as they went into hiding immediately after the offence, giving police a hard time to locate them.
“It was difficult for us to arrest them. We left numerous messages with their families for them to report themselves. Neither of them showed up. We arrested Keokilwe in another ward where he was hiding while Tshekelo was arrested in Nxaraga where he fled on a stock theft offence,” disclosed Dinyando, adding that as well as Tshekelo’s stock theft issues – he is accused of stealing a donkey – Keokilwe has an outstanding case of grievous harm.
The IO further told court the survivor is traumatized and in need of counseling.
“The victim is suffering from a lot of trauma. She runs away from people, even her parents, we were also told that she has nightmares. The suspects stay in the same locality and seeing these two at this moment will only trigger her,” warned Dinyando.
For his part, Keokilwe maintained his application for bail pending trial, on the basis he is taking care of his family’s livestock at the cattlepost since his parents are of old age.
“I am the one staying with cattle at home, I also have debts outside so I am requesting for bail. In the case that the Investigating Officer is talking about, I was acting in self defence as we were attacked by a group of those guys. I never went into hiding. I was at the cattlepost!” maintained Keokilwe.
His co-accused was equally adamant he should be set free.
Attempting to clear his name in the donkey matter, Tshekelo claimed he never intended to steal the animal, insisting he only borrowed it so he could ride back to Maun after he heard the police were looking for him.
Unconvinced, Maun Magistrates Court saw fit to keep the pair in prison for now, setting the next court appearance for 7 May.
