Wife rapes husband

MASERU — A Maseru woman, ‘Malerato Masoabi, was yesterday slapped with a three-year jail sentence for raping her husband.
This is the first time that a woman has been convicted of marital rape.
The sentence was however suspended for two years. Masoabi, 31, from Ha Lebipi Mothobi in Maseru district, was charged with sexually assaulting her husband, Tello Masoabi, 36.
The offence took place on January 24 2008. The case was before Maseru magistrate Molemo Monethi.
According to the court records, ‘Malerato Masoabi had for five months consistently refused to have sex with her husband.
The husband then filed for divorce at the Lesotho High Court.
The two had however continued to share the marital bed pending a decision on the divorce application.
But on January 24 2008, the woman, who is a mother of two, forced herself on the husband and raped him, according to court records.
The husband was incensed and reported the matter to the police leading to the wife’s arrest.
Monethi said the accused had contravened section 3 (2) of No. 3 of the Sexual Offences Act of 2003 in that he had sexual intercourse with her husband without his consent.
“From the evidence led by the crown, the complainant refused to have sexual intercourse with his wife as they already had problems and when the act occurred, the complainant had already instituted divorce proceedings in the High Court,” the magistrate said in his judgment.
The magistrate said the husband had not consented to sex with his wife.
The two have since divorced.
“In passing sentence I took into consideration extenuating circumstances of both perpetrator and the victim.
“They were legally married and were still sleeping together but had ceased to have sexual intercourse for some time,” the magistrate said.
In mitigation, ‘Malerato Masoabi said she was a first offender and had minor children to look after.
The magistrate said he had given her a suspended sentence to allow her to have access to her minor children under her custody.