Rape victim bites off attacker�s finger

Onalenna Kelebeile | Wednesday October 7, 2015 16:11

The incident prompted police here to inform all health facilities around town to alert them if anyone presented them with a cut finger, a decision which led to the arrest of the alleged rapist a day after the incident.

The alleged rapist is currently admitted at the Government Hospital and police are set to conduct a DNA test to establish if the piece of the finger in evidence, belongs to him. Selebi-Phikwe Police Station Commander Superintendent Victor Nlebesi said the incident happened on Independence Day when two ladies aged between 20 and 23 met two strangers who offered to escort them to their home.  The two men then diverted the route and forced the young ladies towards some hills where they proceeded to rape the ladies. He said one lady was raped while the other one fought with the perpetrator. While the fighting continued the young man who had finished raping the other lady attempted to assist his friend to overpower the other lady but the young lady defended herself and bit off a piece of his finger. “We managed to arrest him when he visited one of the clinics to have his cut finger attended to and he led us to his rape partner who we also arrested.

“Once discharged from hospital the perpetrators will be arraigned before court where we will apply for their bail to be revoked because they have similar pending cases before the court. “The incident in question happened just a week after they were granted bail. Meanwhile, in a separate incident, Botshabelo police nabbed a 29-year-old Motswana man and charged him with abetting illegal entry and harbouring illegal immigrants into Botswana after he was caught with a truck full of Zimbabweans who entered through an ungazetted entry point. Botshabelo Police Station commander, Gothusamang Badubi, said they acted on a tip off and nabbed the culprits along the border near Tshokwe village. It is believed the culprits entered near Matopi.  “The Zimbabweans pretended to be a religious group who had come for a ceremony. The truck owner is yet to appear in court while the Zimbabweans have been detained and will soon be handed over to immigration department for deportation,” she said.

 She said there were eight Zimbabweans in the truck and most of them did not have proper travel documents. Badubi said cases of illegal immigrants entering Botswana are rampant in her area as a recent operation managed to nab 34 perpetrators. She added that most of the criminals are found in the cattleposts along the border.