Three youthful men were this week sentenced to 10 years in jail each for gang raping a 35-year-old woman at Lekhujwana lands near Sojwe village last year.
The trio, Tumisang Reetsang (30) from Difetlhamolelo ward in Sojwe, Malefo Dow (29) of Kokonye lands and 22-year-old Oduetse Kabe from Marumo ward, in Thamaga village were convicted of rape with no extenuating circumstanced by Molepolole Magistrate court.
They were found guilty of raping a woman who was travelling back home from a baby shower in a donkey cart on March 1st, 2020.
During trial the court heard that the victim was travelling in a donkey cart with her 40-year-old boyfriend from Boatlaname to Lekhujwana when the three rapists followed them also with a donkey cart, which they parked in such a way that it blocked the victim’s one.
The three men then jumped out of their cart and assaulted the donkeys of the victim’s cart, which scared her boyfriend away.
Reetsang proceeded to pull the victim from the cart to assault her with slaps before his co accused could load her into their donkey cart and drive into the bush where they laid her down on a blanket and raped her.
It was revealed that the DNA of all the three rapists was found on the victim.
In mitigation Reetsang said he was the one caring for his mother and their livestock. He further mentioned that he left a sick relative and his employer’s goats and chicken unattended.
“I have two minor children who have been abandoned by their mothers when they were still young, I left them with my mother who also can’t see properly as my sister recently passed on,” Dow told the court while Kabe said he was forced to rape the victim by his co-accused.
“May the court have mercy on me because I was forced to do it, that is all I can say,” said ashamed Kabe with his head bowed down.
Sending the trio to jail, Gender Based Violence Magistrate Keabetswe Majuta noted that she had to balance the interest of the accused with the interest of the society unless there were exceptional extenuating circumstances, which the three accused did not have so she gave them 10 years imprisonment each.
This sentence is like sending them to buy Nandos for themselves 5km away
It may be true that the young man might have been forced.The magistrate could have listened.
Security companies lack mens of those ages,batho bone ba busy raping our mother’s out there. Mxm
Wa 22 years pisses me off mxm.
The law should be amended when it comes to rape. I believe none of the 3 men deserved anything less than 20 years. I am against the death penalty but clearly such people do not deserve a place in our society. I wish healing on the victim.