Six months after his trial for rape was completed, a Botswana Defence Force (BDF) officer is still to learn his fate, after Molepolole Magistrates’ Court postponed judgment in the matter for a second time.
Used to flying planes at the speed of light, soldier pilot, Major Mmusi Olefile, has endured a slow wait for a verdict in a case that first hit the courts in January 2020.
Accused of raping a colleague’s wife, the 39-year-old’s trial concluded in August last year, with judgment originally scheduled for 8th December.
However, Senior Magistrate, Kefilwe Resheng, who is now based in Mahalapye, postponed the matter to 1th February before hitting the reset button again and pushing it back to June.
Apologising for any inconvenience caused, the Magistrate did not explain the reason behind the further postponement.
Wicked whispers in the courtroom suggested the delay was due to the case file going missing.
The Voice noticed that on both occasions when judgment was scheduled for delivery, the case was called without a file, the Magistrate relying on loose lined papers for recordings.
When contacted for comment, Olefile’s defence attorney, Enoch Mazonde, revealed he was phoned by the prosecutor the day before they were due in court, only to be told the judgment was not ready.
“Because of this, I decided not to appear before court to avoid unnecessary costs for my client. There is nothing I can do except to wait for judgment. If it fails again on the scheduled date, that is when we can make a plan to appeal to the High Court,” explained Mazonde.
Major Olefile is alleged to have raped his 36-year-old colleague’s wife on 24th March, 2019 at his current station, Thebephatshwa Air Base.
The accused pilot allegedly gained entry into the woman’s house through a front window.
The incident is said to have occurred when the victim’s husband, who is also a Major, was away studying in Nigeria.
It is reported that on the fateful day, Olefile and the victim met at a pool party held at the camp.
At around 0500hrs, the suspect drove the victim to her home as she was said to be too drunk to drive. It is claimed he later snuck back and raped her in her bed.
The pilot’s DNA was not detected on the victim. He has maintained his innocence throughout, and remains out on bail anxiously awaiting his fate.