Man arrested for marrying a 15-year-old
MASERU — The police in Quthing have arrested a 22-year-old man for customarily marrying a 15-year-old girl in violation of the law.
It is suspected the man also had sex with the under-age girl.
The girl, whose name has been withheld, eloped with her “husband” and was customarily welcomed into her husband’s family as his wife under a traditional marriage arrangement called chobeliso.
She was even given a new name, a Sesotho traditional custom that shows that a daughter-in-law has been accepted into her new family.
But the police last Monday arrested the man for breaching the Sexual Offences Act 2003 which criminalises sexual relations between adults and minors.
The man could be jailed for up to 15 years if convicted.
Police say the girl’s parents had not consented to their daughter eloping with the man.
But customarily when chobeliso happens parents on both sides are usually not involved.
Chobeliso is only agreed upon by a young man and woman who are marrying.
It is not yet clear if the girl had agreed to elope with the man.
Even if they had agreed, it is a criminal offence for an adult to marry a child or to have sex with her or him.
“It is unlawful for a man to marry a girl who is underage in spite of the agreement of the two parties,” Masupha Masupha, the police spokesperson, said.
“The suspect’s relatives are saying they had even given the girl a name to show their appreciation.”
The admission by the man’s parents that they welcomed the girl into their family as their son’s wife is itself a criminal offence, according to the Child Protection Act.
The Act says anybody who knows of a child being abused, sexually or otherwise, and does not report to the authorities is guilty of an offence and could be imprisoned.
Chobeliso is rife in Lesotho’s rural areas.
In most cases, a young man elopes with a young woman because the woman is pregnant.
Many teenage girls enter into this kind of marriage because they are pregnant.
Meanwhile, a nine-year-old girl from Mohale’s Hoek was allegedly sexually assaulted by a herd boy last Thursday.
Police said the victim was playing with her friends when the suspect called her at around noon.
“It was reported that the suspect then started beating the victim with a stick chasing her to a nearby forest. When they got into the forest the suspect then started raping the victim,” Masupha said.
“He pulled her into the forest by force and was even hitting her with a stick. The suspect then ran away after the incident.”
Masupha said the suspect stays in the same village with the victim and is also known by the victim’s parents
In another incident, a 27-year-old gardener from Mohale’s Hoek was arrested for allegedly raping a 16-year-old girl last Thursday.
The victim reported the matter to her parents leading to the man’s arrest.
Comment by Moferefere on 24 January 2013:
man rape
man rape
Comment by Nong la kolo on 24 January 2013:
Oa tseba kene ke nahana hore lintho tse tjena li fetile le puso e fetileng hantle ho etsahalang lipolao, lipeto, bosholu, mapolesa a hlokofatsang batho. Hela ekaba re tla thusoa ke mang coz hoa bonahala hore ntho tsena ke li tsoang-tsoang. Mona ho mpa ho chenchile botlolo feela moriana nqe le ‘meche entse e le ona.
Comment by TUMI on 24 January 2013:
Ha ele banna ba ba beta bona,ke bona molemo ele hore ba faoloe!mxa
Comment by Moferefere on 24 January 2013:
a while ago, a certain Lesotho newspaper reported about a man (sebiti) who was in prison and has now been bailed out. now he can’t go back to prison because he has compensated his victim with two cows! ntho tsa Lesotho li’a makatsa.
Comment by AAAA on 24 January 2013:
butleng ele, monna a 22 ha a moholo haholo kannete. ba kampa ba bua ka bo-under age. lets recll our past. mosali ona nyaloa ale 15.
Comment by Letebele on 24 January 2013:
The mental element is of vital importance in these kind of cases. Haeba moshemane enoa genuinely o ne a inyalla kharebe ea hae a e rata e mo rata, e se ka morero oa ho e beta, ha ho tlolo ea molao ea letho mo
no.
Comment by Tlhase on 24 January 2013:
“a while ago, a certain Lesotho newspaper reported about a man (sebiti) who was in prison and has now been bailed out. now he can’t go back to prison because he has compensated his victim with two cows! ntho tsa Lesotho li’a makatsa.”
Ehlile Moferefere.
Enoa o se a entse compensate ka ho lefa bohali! Goes to show our entire Justice system has gone to the dogs! No wonder ppl have lost hope ba inkela molao matsohong. Ea betileng ka mahahapa of patala khomo tse peli o sharp ka baka la bofuma kaha Basotho ba rata chelete. Ea neng a re oa nyala ena ebile a se a ntsitse likhomo le malapa a lumellane le Sex e le consensual o tla tshoaroa. Ha ke hane ke crime to have intercourse with le underage empa a ke a shejoe ka mohau. A light sentence or a warning will be enough. What is good for the goose must be good for the gander.
Comment by Tlhase on 24 January 2013:
Under any circumstances, having Sex with an underaged individual is a crime! Period.
Comment by Motlotsuoa on 24 January 2013:
The statutory law should be scraped totaly, research has found that kids as young as 12 engage in sex and that they are mature enough to make informed decisions, the current similar case in south Africa may shed some light. The judge has ruled that a girl aged 12 had actually made informed decision when she had sex and the man was free,
Comment by Moferefere on 24 January 2013:
@Motlotsuoa se ke oa re tlotsa ka vaselini mahlong hle. it’s good that an adult man mustn’t be having sex with a child. it’s statutory rape alright if he does it. Nna ha eka etsahala ngoaneng oa ka oa ngoanana nka bolaea motho. i don’t believe that a south african judge ruled that a 12 year old made informed decisions by sleeping with a man much much older than herself. you wish that it could be like that! but if wishes were horses Motlotsuoa, beggers would ride.
Comment by Moferefere on 24 January 2013:
@AAAA
let’s leave the past in the past hle mfana!
Comment by Nakeli on 25 January 2013:
The injustices of our times are manifested in all spheres of life. Some people have abandance while other wallow in abject poverty.
Matsatsing ana ha o bona kamoo sex e bolesikoang hohle – lipapatsong, thelefishineng, lipineng le kamoo botekatsi, bohlola le bonyatsi li jeleng setsi ka teng motho o ka becha hore ache nthoena e ngata e ea fumaneha ende ha bonolo.
But litlaleho tse kang ena li re ruta hore banna le bashanyana ba bangata ba tlaleng ea boja likate.
I don’t condone rape and criminality. And rapists should face the full brunt of the law. Ke ne mpa ke re unfairness ke ts’obotsi ea bophelo ba matsatsi ana.
Comment by TLEPETLEPE on 25 January 2013:
Basotho ba tsietsing ea holahleheloa ke mesebetsi Afrika boroa ka lebaka la dual citezenship le reng joale?
Comment by Moferefere on 25 January 2013:
@Tlepetlepe
kaha ba sebetsa SA, ha ba nke liphasepoto tsa South Africa ba lahle tsa Lesotho. South African on a piece of paper; but Mosotho oa Lesotho at heart. simple as that.
Joale Tlepetlepe mfethu mona re bua ka libiti tsa bana.
Comment by MOCUMBI on 25 January 2013:
CHE
Comment by Blanche on 25 January 2013:
Scott keane ha a tsoaroa a bolaile ka bokhopho ho tlo itsoareloa ngoana mokalenyana a lilemo li 22 ha a siee le ngoanana eno le hahoolo infact the girl started to fall inlove with a guy and the girl adopted the guy for so many times it doesn’t matter how long I think. Because law of the world created by man with the wisdom from GOD but not GOD HIMSELF has created it, is there to protect but is not perfect because it works unfairly. Why the world is such cruel like this.
Comment by Rethabile Mahleke on 26 January 2013:
Ao che!
Comment by Seisa John on 26 January 2013:
Some people must learn to learn to stop politicizing every ill mannered act committed by these “moronned” beings. What does the politics of this country have to do with the case of rape reported above??
I suggest we go to college and study The study of politics, the science of politics I mean so that we may be in the right position to draw the distinction between that issue which is political and that which is apolitical.
I do not condone the immoral acts and I absolutely ridicule the nauseating acts such as the one mentioned above. Motho eo ha a tsebe ho fereha re tlo mothusa ho ya thakeng tsa hae??
Comment by Isac Pheko on 28 January 2013:
Na ebe haho molemo hore beng ba ketso tsee ba kenywe rekere jwalo ka diphoofolo.
Comment by Sabrina on 28 January 2013:
Hao banabesong, boy eo ha e na thaka ea eona.? Ngoanana eo eena u rata lenyalo ale monyane tje kapa haa phele hantle kapa ke u ts’episi chelete le ho ja soft?!? Aache! Che ntho tse etsahalang?!
Comment by WENDY on 28 January 2013:
I think abuti eno ha a fosa ka ho shobelisa ausi eno bane ba lumelane hona ausi eo haeba o monyane o batlang ka mora motho a moholo??????????
Comment by Rangoana moloi on 29 January 2013:
Law!law.this country is ruled by law.
Comment by Moferefere on 29 January 2013:
WENDY????????????? monna moholo o ne a batlang kamora ngoana? nxa
Comment by Lekholokoe on 30 January 2013:
Moshanyana a lilemo li 22 a nkhang seqhenene o tsebang ka ho shobelisa, ka nnete mona re tloaeloa hampe ke Masea mmoho le ena ngoanana eno le ba habo moashanyana & ha hole tjena ke tabe ea hore e mong le e mong a lumelaneng le ketso ena e nyonyehang a ts’oaroe. Ntho e mpe ea ts’oeloa sies man. Lona bana ting lene le kenoe keng? Lets’oaneloa ke teronko hobane le se le hlotse thupa bana ting.
Comment by madise on 30 January 2013:
ag tlohelang bana ba etse re bone hore ba fella kae.
Rona boAbuti/Ausi ba bona re hlotswe ke lenyalo ebile re makallana makgotleng a dinyewe…tlohelang bana ba etse se re hlotseng!