A MAN convicted of raping a teenage girl in the Omaheke region four years ago has been sentenced to 18 years’ imprisonment at the end of his trial in the Gobabis Regional Court.
“There is a need to send a strong message to the public that sexual exploitation of women and young girls, as well as vulnerable persons in our society will not be condoned by the courts,” magistrate Ileni Velikoshi said during the man’s sentencing.
He said the number of rape cases the courts are dealing with on a daily basis is worrying and that cases involving sexual violence and the abuse of women are on the increase.
The man before the court invaded the home of the complainant, who is related to him, violated her right to privacy, her dignity and the sense of security she was entitled to enjoy at home, and proved to her the house she was living in would not shield her from sexual predators like himself, Velikoshi said.
“To be raped by a relative inside a place where you are supposed to feel safe and secure is probably one of the worst nightmares imaginable,” the magistrate said, before he sentenced the accused to a prison term of 18 years.
The man, now aged 33, was working as a builder at the time of the rape, which took place at a village in the Otjinene area on 18 August 2016.
During his trial, the complainant in the case, who was 15 years old at the time of the incident, told the court she and her younger siblings had been left at home alone by their parents, who had gone to a funeral.
She said it was around midnight when the man knocked at the door of their home, asking to be let in.
When she and her siblings refused to open the door, the man climbed through an open space above the door.
Inside the shack, he undressed himself, took the drawstring from his tracksuit bottom, tied it around her neck and fastened it to a pole in the house, and then raped her, the girl recounted.
She also said that when she screamed he dressed himself and left the house, but later returned and threatened to assault her and her siblings if they dared report the incident.
Testifying in his own defence, the accused claimed he and the girl had consensual intercourse and that the witnesses who testified against him conspired against him and fabricated the allegations that he had raped the girl.
The magistrate, however, found that the complainant had been a credible witness and that her evidence had been corroborated by other witnesses.
The accused had been a poor and evasive witness, though, Velikoshi said when he found him guilty last week.
The state was represented by public prosecutor Faith Nyaungwa.
Defence lawyer Eliaser Shiikwa represented the accused.
