A 29-year-old Mohale’s Hoek man is in police custody after he allegedly had sex with a 13-year-old girl on several occasions and impregnating the minor.
The man allegedly started abusing the teenager in October 2015 and the rape only came to light after the girl’s grandmother realised she was pregnant.
Asked about the pregnancy, the girl implicated the man, Snr Insp Molefe added.
“The alleged statutory rape started shortly after the man proposed to the girl and the two started having an affair,” Snr Insp Molefe said.
“When the grandmother discovered that the girl was pregnant, she asked her about it. That was when she discovered that the 29-year-old man from Mesitsaneng in Mohale’s Hoek had been raping the girl since October, claiming that they were in a relationship.
“There is no such thing called a love affair between a 29-year-old man and 13-year-old girl. Having sex with a minor is rape even if one says they were in a relationship. That is why we are charging him with rape.”
In another sexual abuse case, 30-year-old Mokhesi Mohlomi from Thaba-Tseka was sentenced to eight years in jail without an option of a fine after he was found guilty of rape.
“Mohlomi raped a 35-year-old woman on her way from work on 7 January and on 13 January, the Thaba-Tseka Magistrate’s Court sentenced him to eight years behind bars.”
Escalating cases of rape, he added, had become cause for concern and were making women live in fear, thereby denying them their right to freedom of movement.
