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Botswana: Prisoner Nearly Earns Himself Extra Five Years
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Mmegi/The Reporter (Gaborone)
18 April 2008
Posted to the web 21 April 2008
Bame Piet
Gaborone
A 22-year-old man of Gabane, Tshepiso 'Phunya' Mogomotsi, nearly earned himself an additional five years to the 10-year jail term he is serving for raping his neighbour in Gabane on November 8, 2006.
High Court judge Justice Maruping Dibotelo restrained himself from giving him the extra five because of his age. Mogomotsi is appealing the conviction and sentence for the rape. He denied raping the complainant, saying he had had sexual intercourse with the complainant before that date and that it was always consensual.
But state counsel Kebuang Nokaloba was unmoved by the accused person's argument. She said that according to the charge sheet and evidence laid at the magistrates' court, Mogomotsi went to the neighbour's place and burst into the complainant's house, forcing her to scream upon seeing him. However, she relaxed after recognising him. A moment later, Mogomotsi produced a knife and demanded sex from the complainant who resisted. They struggled until Mogomotsi overpowered and penetrated her.
Mokaloba said that during the struggle Mogomotsi cut his hand with a knife and also threatened to hit the complainant with a brick.
"He went to the extent of tearing the complainant's clothes with the knife. The brick that he threatened to hit the complainant with was taken to the forensic lab and the DNA that was sampled from the blood stains on it matched that of the accused," Mokaloba stated. She added that Mogomotsi failed to cross-examine the complainant to discredit her version that the sex was non-consensual, hence giving strength to the case of the state.
The state counsel also quashed Mogomotsi's claims that since no spermatozoa were detected from the complainant's vagina it was not true that any sexual intercourse took place. "The presence of spermatozoa is not the main element in this case - it doesn't mean that there was no carnal knowledge or penetration," she argued.
According to Mokaloba, Mogomotsi was arrested six weeks after the rape because he had been on the run from the police.
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He will serve the 10 years' imprisonment. Meanwhile, Lebogang Mothudi, who is serving 10 years for the murder of Africa Ramotlhwa in 2003, will appear before the court today, challenging his conviction and sentence.
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