Man acquitted of girlfriend's alleged rape
Sharon Mathala | Tuesday July 30, 2024 09:42
The background of the matter is that, back in November 2022 in Mogoditshane, Toko allegedly had sexual intercourse with the victim without her consent. He pleaded not guilty to the offence. During the trial, the court heard that Toko and the assaulted woman were lovers and shared a child. At the time of the alleged offence, the two were living together. The State further told the court that on the day, the couple went to bed, sleeping on the same bed with their child, only for the complainant to wake up to someone mounting her.
“As they had switched off the lights she asked who the individual was and what he was doing. She immediately recognised that it was the accused person. She then asked him what was wrong. He withdrew a knife and instructed her to undress. She protested and told him that she was a mother to their five-month-old child. He threatened to stab her with the same knife and she eventually submitted to his demands,” court papers read. The court was further told that Toko proceeded to have sexual intercourse with her four more times. “After he was done, she told him that she wanted to go to the toilet.
At this particular time, she intended to go and report the incident to the police. He, however, followed her to the toilet. From the toilet he escorted her back to the house,” the State told the court. In the morning he instructed her to take a bath and she did. She then went to work where she later went to report the matter to the police. In his defence, the accused elected to give a sworn statement and called no witnesses. When giving his side of the story to court, Toko said that he found a text message on the complainant’s phone which was suggestive that she was cheating on him. He admitted that he ended up beating her. He, therefore, believed that it was the sole reason she incriminated him, further telling the court that he didn't have sexual intercourse with her on the alleged date. When making his ruling, the magistrate noted that the accused didn't deny that on the particular night, he shared a bed with the complainant. He, however, denied that he had sexual intercourse with her.
“I must, therefore, express that after value judgment, I established that there was no cogency in the complainant’s evidence in chief. There was no logical explanation why the former would have threatened the latter with a knife to coerce her into having sexual intercourse with him. She testified that their bedroom lights were off and there was no convincing explanation as to how she saw the alleged knife,” the magistrate noted.
The magistrate further noted during her testimony, the complainant testified after the rape, she told the accused that she needed to go to the toilet and that her real intention was to escape to report the incident to the police. The court wasn't convinced because she didn't take the court into confidence as to what happened after they had gone back into the house. The court also ruled that there was no evidence that she was restrained in the house to the extent that she couldn't escape whilst the accused was still sleeping. In the end, the magistrate dismissed the case. “Additionally, I had an opportunity to observe her demeanour and by no means did she convince the court as a credible witness,” the magistrate observed.