Police is search of man who raped Standard 7 girl

A 12-year-old girl was taken to Letlhakeng police by her parents, who subsequently filed a rape case against the man she had spent the night with.

Details of the incident reveal that the young girl was sent to the shops this past Saturday afternoon. Along the way, she met a 21-year-old man, and they exchanged numbers with the girl giving him her sister's mobile number.

On the same Saturday, the young man allegedly called the sister's phone and spoke with the Standard 7 student, who then disappeared from her parents' house on Sunday. After hours passed without seeing the child, the concerned parents searched for her, called relatives and failing to locate her, reported her as missing to the police. A missing person case was then registered.

The young girl returned home the following day, whereupon her parents inquired about her whereabouts and she disclosed that she had been raped. Concerned, her parents accompanied her to the police station to file a rape case against the 21-year-old man.

Confirming the rape incident, Superintendent Amos Kekgathetse stated that they are yet to arrest the suspect. He expressed concern over the complexities of the actions of youngsters these days, adding that rape and defilement cases were a concern in his policing area, while also blaming poor parenting is often to blame for such incidents.

'We carry out education outreach programmes in schools. I urge parents to be actively involved in their children's upbringing and to prevent them from engaging in romantic relationships at a young age,' Kekgathetse said.

Botswana Network on Ethics, Law, and HIV/AIDS (BONELA) has also noted with concern, the growing number of incidences of child sexual assault and rape in Botswana.

On the 19th February 2024, a rape incident occurred in Mochudi and was reported to the police station the following day. The accused was arrested, and later released after a period of 48 hours.

The case was reported to BONELA on the 23rd of February 2024 for legal assistance and intervention. BONELA's concern is that cases of child sexual abuse have been on the rise with as many as 1 825 cases reported in 2020, 2 033 in 2021 and 2 059 in 2022.

According to section 142 of the Penal Code, a person who is charged with rape is not entitled to bail and upon conviction, will be sentenced to a minimum of 10 or 15 years, depending on whether the rape was violent and resulted in injury to the victim or survivor, and a maximum of life imprisonment.