Man repeatedly rapes stepdaughter
By Nat Molomo
MASERU — The Maseru Magistrate’s Court this week heard shocking details of how a Maseru man sexually abused his teenage stepdaughter for six years while his wife remained silent.
As the damning evidence was being delivered, the stepfather sat cold-faced in the dock. On his side was his sombre looking wife, who is the girl’s mother.
The mother is being charged with failing to report her husband’s alleged crime.
We have withheld the names of the stepfather and mother to protect the victim. As a matter of policy the Lesotho Times does not identify rape victims.
The mother too did not show any emotion as state witness constable Makhetha of Thetsane Police Station narrated how she came to know of the alleged crime.
The prosecution alleges that the mother knew that her husband was sexually abusing her daughter for six years but did not report the matter.
The two, who are represented by lawyer Advocate Khosi Lesuthu, pleaded not guilty before magistrate Molemo Monethi.
Makhetha said the victim reported that her stepfather had instructed her not to have boyfriends “because he wanted her for himself”.
The alleged abuse started when the girl was only nine years old and was discovered by the police when she was 15.
Makhetha told the court that the girl’s “virginity was vitiated by her father”.
She said the alleged crime came to light on June 22, 2010 when the victim was brought to the Thetsane police station by a stranger.
“I met the girl and saw symptoms that the girl was not well-looked after and she might have some infectious diseases. She had blisters and appeared underfed. She was also not clean,” Makhetha said.
Suspecting that the girl had been sexually abused, Makhetha took her to Queen Elizabeth II Hospital for an examination.
The result confirmed that she had been sexually active.
“She told me that her father had been abusing her since 2009.”
Makhetha testified that the girl had told her that when her mother left for Johannesburg her stepfather turned her into a “fulltime wife”.
“The girl told me that even when her mother had returned her stepfather would leave his bed and come down on the floor where she slept. At one time her mother discovered that he had inserted his penis into her private parts.”
During cross examination the defence counsel asked Makhetha if it was not possible that the father could have prohibited his stepdaughter from having boyfriends because he wanted to protect her.
Makhetha however stood her ground and insisted that the only reason the father had prohibited her daughter from having boyfriends was because he wanted to continue abusing her.
The father did not want her to have boyfriends because he was jealous, the police officer said.
When the defence tried to push further Magistrate Monethi intervened and reminded the court that the victim had to be protected.
“The child must be protected, we are not talking about a prostitute or a harlot here let us protect her,” a seemingly displeased Monethi said.
Makhetha admitted that she had actually called the mother as a witness when she took the girl’s statement.
Makhetha said in 2011 she got a report from the Child and Gender Protection Unit that the father had continued to abuse the girl.
She added that when she heard the mother had encouraged her daughter to drop the case she decided to put husband and wife into custody.
The case was postponed to June 27.
Thabang Motsamai is appearing for the crown.
Comment by Shabba Renks on 21 June 2012:
we still have the death penalty, right?
Comment by Shabba Renks on 21 June 2012:
o tlo utloe maakhotla a rona,ka sentence tsa ‘mantloaneng. 5years or 5thousand maloti. Ntate phoofolo sireletsa ngoanana ke eo ntatee!
Comment by Shabba Renks on 21 June 2012:
bo 1 thousand or 1year in jail for murder. nx!
Comment by Mofutsana on 21 June 2012:
Ke leboha Molimo hore ebe hake a lawyer. Nkeke ka buella ketso tse tjena ka ea monna enoa just for money.
Comment by nare on 21 June 2012:
Let him go down to saka-leholo and be someone’s bit**, a tsebe ho utloa hore na rape e joang
Comment by Organic on 21 June 2012:
bana besong, i lack words. this is terrible
Comment by juliet on 21 June 2012:
sehloho! rape ha ena fine!
Comment by popa on 21 June 2012:
hore hoa mmae mona eenoa le mosali eeeno…hao banna oso kenye koma joang ngaoaneng a lemo li 9 khelek ….nxaaa eenoa eena o hloka ho shoa kannete siiieeeeeeeeeeeeeees
Comment by khekz on 21 June 2012:
Ache, ruri!!! enoa ena monna o tlamehile ho theohela ka banneng haele mosali enoa ena o lokeloa ke kahlolo e matla ea ho thola ha tlolo ea molao e etsahala…
Mathata ke ao, sebetsang bo-ntate ba molao
Comment by Thala-Boliba on 21 June 2012:
Limosine ke a motehepa likahlomh tse tjena, ba ahlolele lefu ntate empa ka ha ha ona jurisdiction refer it to the high court for setencing. Then hand it over to Judge Guni she will send the Devil to the gallows!
Comment by Young on 21 June 2012:
Ha ba tlepetsoe ka majoe!!!
Comment by MOLEKO on 21 June 2012:
Moshana eo o ja pela e chesa, o sa sitoa le ke ho reka likuena ka M20. KE KOPA HO TLA FAOLA SATANE ENO KA SEKELE. SATANISM SATANISM
Comment by mukesh Mokau on 21 June 2012:
Satane ee ea monna ke ntja w jwang? Ele hore mosali eo eena u na qekisang ho ntja e tje?
Comment by Pong pong on 21 June 2012:
Lawyers will go to hell for their repeated lies, how can this lawyer stand for this rapist? Money!!! Uena Khosi o tla cha o tla botsoa. Ke kopa monna eo le ba bang ba hloloang ke mehatla ba faoloe tu
Comment by Young on 21 June 2012:
@Pong Pong…Oena joale you are taking your eyes off the ball and going for the player instead. For Law and Order to prevail, Human Rights must precede. It’s everyone’s right to get legal represention regarless of the nature of crimes which they are alleged to have commited. Khosi is a lawyer and his duties are to represent the people accused of crime in court. So let him do what he’s trained to do. Let him do his job. Ha se ena a betileng. Now you are diverting the attention & possible attacks from the culprit to him.
The problem about us as Basotho is that we tend to personalise everything hence the reason for our inability to strategise effective systems within the gorvement, organisations, and all other entities. Don’t hate the player, hate the game!!!
Comment by Mon Mak on 21 June 2012:
sad
Comment by stebe on 21 June 2012:
Ha ke tsebe li-ethics tsa molao empa ke nahana hore practice ea molao or not, motho ka mong o na le li ethics, i dont give a damm hore meleko ena e ne e tla mpha milone tse kae i can not stand for what i believe in. Ha ke le akhente ke ne nkeke ka emela manyala a tjena a batho. ke babolai.
Comment by stebe on 21 June 2012:
i mean i can not stand for what i do not believe in.
Comment by Young on 21 June 2012:
@Stebe & Pong Pong…The details of crime tend to unfold more in a court of law because that’s where we can hear arguments from both sides without being biased. Again the only way we can really understand the nature of crimes and their sources is by offording the accused a chance in court.
A courtroom is not like principal’s office. There are technicalities which are involved,so a common citizen needs a representative that is familiar which court proceeding for a case to be fair and constitutional. If one can’t afford a lawyer they have a right to get represantation from the gorverment legal aid. This representation comes in a form of a human being not a robot. That’s where a lawyer comes in. We don’t even know how Advocate Khosi ended up representing this cultprit but we are already critising him. Bare in mind that one is innocent until proven guilty!
Comment by NGWANA LAPENG on 21 June 2012:
sies monna enwa ke ntja str8 ebe na batlang ho ngwana mokalo….ke ukwa ke tswafa mma ngwanenwa how cud she???
Comment by Le roma on 21 June 2012:
monna enoa ke Satanehali e senang lihlong tsa ho pana ngoana a mokaaalo le mae enoa, a bonahalang a qekisa marete a nkhang ano.Kannete molao o tlameha ho sebetsa, monna enoa le mosali enoa wa hae ba lo bolla koana ntloana tshoana, ngoana enoa a tsoele pele ka bophelo ba hae.nxa!!!
Comment by Khasela on 21 June 2012:
Mean, mean, mean world!!
Comment by Setshoana on 21 June 2012:
Batho ba Molimo!!! Molimo oa khotso!!! Mosali eo o khopo hakakang!!! A zokothwe le ngwana hae ebe oa thola? Kannete nka e ts’ella chefo nyatsi!!!
Comment by Johannes on 21 June 2012:
Ache, ho tseba ntate Molimo,
Ngoana eo o tla ntso’arela ha ke re ha ke tse’pe litaba tsa hae,
o betiloe lemo tse ts’eletseng, ha a tlaleha, o ne a ts’aba ntatae.
Bananyana ba mehleng ena ba tatatela marato e re ha bontata
bona ba ba khalemela ba re ba batluoa likobo, maobane mona
ke bone e mong, ha ‘na ke le lemo tse 36, eena u ne a shebahala
eka u lemo tse 13/14 under aged, a lerakoanyaneng kena,
ngoana enoa u re ho ‘na “etla u tlo bona” ke atamela ke botse
keng? A re “ke kopa choko feela u tlaba monate”, joang? O
theola lishort ke ntse ke mo shebile, a re ” se ke oa tsaba tloho” .
Ka bona hore na banna ba kena molekong joang, ka mmolella
ka re ke batla mmao thaka mosali oa ka eseng uena ngoan’aka.
HARE TSEBE, LETSATSI LA NNETE LE A TLA. Ntate ha koalloe,
mme le eena ha ha a koalloe hahona taba.
Comment by kb on 22 June 2012:
God,we need your help…..
Comment by MOTHOFEELA on 22 June 2012:
ACHE AKHOPO MONNA HANA LELIHLONG TSA HOROBALANA LE NGOANA MONYANE HAKOLO KE HORE A FAOLOE.KE MOLEKO OA MONNA
Comment by Lethula MF on 22 June 2012:
@Young, well said mate.Ke tse’pa hoqe makhotla a tla fana k kahlolo e lokelang haeba baqosuoa ba fumanoa ba fumanoa ba le molato joalokaha ba qositsoe. @Johannes, u itlhokomele lekaota u se ke ua iketse tlou e bapalisang malinyane ka mokali.
Comment by kompi on 22 June 2012:
@johannes, joale hoba ngoana a u batlile likobo, ba tlameha ho betoa kaofela? ebile o entse se nepahetseng ha u mokhalemetse. Do people know that children need to be shown the way and not to be taken advantge of?
Comment by stebe on 22 June 2012:
young kea leboha mosotho oa heso ha o re fahlollotse, joalo ka lay person ke ne ke se ke jelella le leqoetha, empa he joale o mphile thuto e sa lefelloeng. le ha ho le joalo , ke ne ke mo jelelella le ke ho utloisoa bohloko ke tse ling tsa lipotso tse halefisang tseo batho bana ba molao ba li botsang hobane o tla li utloa hore they are not actually seek ‘nete but are meant to intrique an emotion like intimidate the already fragile victim tseo qetellong o tla fumana hore that creates a loophole ea hore the perpetrator a hlole nyeoe. and kamorao ho moo, akhente o proud hore o hlola le linyeoe tse thata, empa a sa hlokomele hore he has become a tool ea sentele sa litlolo tsa molao eo ba holisang li syndicate tsa tsona ka eona ka ho lumella litloli tsa molao to get away with crime. eleng eona ntho e ba fang sebete sa ho etsa litlolo tsa molao hobane ba na le chelete e tlan reka bail, e reke le a brilliant lawyer like him.
Comment by Fish on 22 June 2012:
NO!
Comment by lebohang on 22 June 2012:
ona le moea oa bosatane ke hore a chesoe hoba otlo re senyetsa sechaba sa rona sa ka moso
Comment by Lebona on 25 June 2012:
Poor gal…but death penalty…? yes! death penalty thats what that crook deserves…as for the so called mother…she needs a stronger, fresh and muscular rapist, who can repeadedly with passion destroy her…o pelo e mpe…khele!!!
Comment by Thato on 26 June 2012:
pusong e ncha kea tshepa molao o tla sebetsa holima monna enoa le mosali oa hae!!!
Comment by Theido on 26 June 2012:
bana beso hona le banna bantseng ba robala bana lebo mmabona?
Comment by bosso on 26 June 2012:
chehee hona ke bosatane ka hofela.banna tlohellang ho re tlontlolla tjena.what happpend 2 the so called musterbation?ha le hlolwa ke litakatso ther is always a choice,NTLWABE ke yona.
Comment by OA BEREA on 26 June 2012:
Na le re moleko oo oa mosali ngoana eo ke oa hae? Haho mosali ea phelang hantle ea itlhomphang ea ka etsang ntho e tjena ka ngoana ea tsoang popelong ea hae.Hona le se etsahalang ka mosali enoa ngoana enoa.Ke nahana hore ho etsoe DNA test hore na ngoana ke oa letekatse lena la mosali.Ha ana lihlong tsa phomotsana le lesea le lekaalo ka monna? Haele monna ke utloa a re teletse haholo re le banna.Molao o lokela ho sebetsa ka thata bathong ba mofuta ona.
Comment by OA BEREA on 26 June 2012:
Bontate taba ena e bohloko bo kenellang pelong.Re etsang joang re le bontate ho loantsa taba tse tjee? Ha le bone eka ho hlokahala hore re ke re etseng mokoloko o khahlanong le manyala aa? re be re kope lekhotla hore le se fane ka beile bathong ba ketso tse mofuta ona.Ha re emeng ka maoto BONTATE.
Comment by tman on 26 June 2012:
@ Oa Berea
Ua bua ngoana monna!
Comment by Lekaota on 26 June 2012:
Ke nahana hore Ntate Phoofolo le Moifo oa hae ba lokela ho sheba ka thata likahlolo tsa makhotla a rona. Linaheng tseo ho tsona likahlolo li leng boima o keke oa fumanana lintho tsee tjena.
Botsoana eena ee Botsoana feela ke mohlala oa moo hosa bapalloeng ‘me Batho ba teng ba phela hamonate.
Lesotho mona chankana ke kanana ho litloli tsa molao hobane ke hona moo sebiti sena se ilo rutoa computer le ho khanna sefofane ebe hothoe o oa hlabolloa.Mohlomong o entse tjena hobane a batla ho ea sekolong ka teronkong.
Bo Ntate ka kopo Teronko ha eke ebe Toronko. Hoseng joalo haeba le philisa lepantiti hamonate ke kopa le lehlasipa le fuoe bophelo bo beterenyana ho feta boo ba luxury ea teronkong.
Comment by OA BEREA on 26 June 2012:
@ LEKAOTA
U bua ‘nete monn’a heso ba bile ba thabela ho ea chankaneng ba bang.
Comment by Phomolo on 27 June 2012:
mosali oa letekatse! hw on earth does a mentally stable person allow for such a thing to happen to her own flesh and blood? Batho ba bang ha ba na lipelo lea tseba.
Comment by Ke pana poho e bohla on 27 June 2012:
Basali ba bang ba kelello li fats’e, ba tinngoeng monahano o nepahetseng, ba rata kooma hoo motho a iponang fela a keke a phela lefats’eng mona ntle le eona. Mosali ea soele, mosali oa letekatse o nehela letekatse la monna le itlhotseng ka mekhoa hore sekatana sa monna se mo senyetse ngoana ka chefo ena ea hae eo a e jereng ka letheka. Banna ba mofuta ona ba tlameha fela hore ba faoloe ke linyalasi tse sa lokelang ho phela le batho hohang. Mosali enoa o tlisa ngoana lefats’eng, ‘me haa qeta o iphetola sera sa ngoana hae ka ho mo nehella ka seotsoa sena sa hae sa monna. Hee re tennoe ke bo ‘masehlalisane bana ba Lesotho ba liketso li nyonyehang.
Mosali ea malimabe o rata kooma hoo a bileng a reng ngoana hae ea utloileng bohloko hakana bophelong a hule case ea sekoeta see sa hae seo a se ratang ho ipheta? Phoooo! a mosali ea malimabe! Se teng sekatana sa monna seo ereng haeba sea u rata seka nnang sa emella ho kota ngoana hao oa lesea? Che, basali ba bang ba photholehile Lesotho mona ebile ke lirota-rota tse senang kelello. Phoooooaaaaaaa! monna eeno o tlameha ho faoloa a be a lule bophelo bohle teronkong le AIDS eno ea hae eo a ntseng a e ts’oaetsa ngoana letekatse leno la monna!!!
Comment by Ke pana poho e bohla on 27 June 2012:
@Johannes
Ao! Johannes kannete u tiile u ts’oants’a litaba tsa mateenager a 13/14 le lesea le 9 years? Na oa utloa satane ee ea monna e qalile ho beta ngoana eo a le 9 years? Ebile u etse hore u be le khethello lipakeng tsa bana ba itlhomphang le likuena. Ha ho bana ba hlomphang ba ka nnang ba bitsa batho ba baholo ka mekhoa e joalo. Haeba u re u belaella ngoana eo hore eka nna eba o na ntsa rata, keng ha uena u saka etsa liketso tseo tse bana bao ba neng ba batla ho u hulela ho tsona? Monna hore a bete, ke ho rata hoa hae ho etsa ketso eo e mpe, hobane haeba e ne ele ‘nete monna a sitoa ho its’oara ekabe ele banna kaofela ba betang, empa ho bonts’a hore ha ho joalo, hase banna bohle ba etsang liketso tseo tsa bosatane. Ka ntsoe leng; banna bohle ba betang ba tlameha ho faoloa phetho tuu!!!
Comment by Ras Jemaro on 27 June 2012:
That couple deserve to rot in jail for eternity,no counselling will change them.A girl’s life had been damage here.For not showing remorse in court should bring maximum punishment onto them.
Aga sis!Lea nyontsha.Please Mr government and people of good hearts give that girl a home.
Comment by 'Malerato on 28 June 2012:
Bo-mme ha re tlohelleng ho qekisa lerato le sieo! why do we destroy our flesh and blood? This is shameful!
Comment by stebe on 29 June 2012:
ekare some day basali ba ka tsoha ba ithuta hore monna ha asa o rate, ha ho na se teng lefats’eng mona seo o ka se etsang hore a u rate, even sacrificing your own flesh and blood can never make him love you, rather o o bona o sa tlala and continues to abuse you more hobane banna baa ithata, ke mang hona ea ratang motho ea sa ithateng. Monna o hana ele ntho e kang e chaisitsoe ke bese ka bobe o o tla be a le so confident, mme re ba rata ba le joalo ha re re ba ba re lumelle re bolaee bana ba bona kapa ba ikutloise bohloko hore re tsebe ho ba rata. Mosali enoa ha se sehole ke tseketseke, ntho ea ho tlepetsoa ka majoe, you are a discrace to the woman race! sis