Barely a month into their new life, a young Zimbabwean family who came to Botswana earlier this year dreaming of better times have seen their world torn apart – and it’s all the stepdad’s fault!
The 29-year-old is accused of raping his girlfriend’s 13-year-old daughter at their home in Mathangwane last Wednesday (5 February).
The matter was reported to the police by the teenager’s mother, also aged 29, the next day.
Dragged before Francistown Magistrates Court on Friday, the suspect, who cannot be named to protect the complainant’s identity, admitted to sleeping with his stepchild but insisted it was not rape.
“I did not force her! She agreed to have sex with me. I hear the court papers reading that I was raping her but she agreed to sleep with me!” maintained the Nkayi native, who opted to conduct his own defence.
With the legal age of consent in Botswana 18, it is a defence that is unlikely to save the suspect from a lengthy stint in prison!
With investigations into the matter just getting started – it is suspected the family were in the country illegally – the accused was denied bail and will remain incarcerated until 21 February, when he returns to court for status update.
