For a while now, Serowe and Palapye areas have been a ‘ticking time bomb’ of rapists with the police recording two to three rape cases every weekend. Women live in fear of rapists who even attack and rape them in the comfort of their homes.
In the past, Mmegi carried a number of articles in which women were attacked and raped whilst in their sleep, while walking alone, a clear indication that women no longer have the right to live their lives freely.
This past Independence holidays, police recorded five cases of rape in Serowe and Palapye areas as compared to three cases which were reported the same period last year.
Rape cases in these areas continue to rise despite efforts made by law enforcement officers to fight the scourge. The police in the area have since established that most of the recent incidents involving sexual assault include women being attacked and raped while in their sleep. No. 2 District Officer Commanding, Senior Superintendent Paul Oketsang said cases in which women are attacked and raped whilst in their sleep remain a concern with Serowe and Palapye being the most prevalent.
The concern follows three incidents in which two women were attacked and raped whilst in their sleep and the other case in which a 24-year-old woman was attacked and raped by a known suspect over the holidays during the day.
According to Oketsang, in this incident, a 36-year-old man known by the victim found her sleeping under a shade in her yard that afternoon and told her that he wanted to rape her at Gugae cattlepost in the outskirts of Serowe village.
“Men should learn to respect women. How can a man find a woman resting and confidently tell her that "wena ke batla gogo thubetsa" and end up doing so? This shows that men view women as objects that do not have value. This is a serious concern despite the country having recently reviewed sexual offences penalties. Men should know that ‘no means no’ because women are not their sex objects," the police boss said. He said in another incident that occurred at Lotsane ward, Palapye last Sunday when an 84-year-old woman was also woken up by an intruder busy raping her whilst in her sleep. “The suspect, a 22-year-old man pounced on the old woman in an attack and raped her. The old woman did not lock the house because she knew her granddaughters who had gone out to the bars were to return home.
Her neighbours were woken up by her loud screams and managed to locate the suspect who had attempted to flee the crime scene. "How can a 22-year-old rape someone as old as his grandmother? This is a disgrace and it shows that men really do not respect women even those as old as their parents; this is the mindset change we are currently preaching. Men should change how they view women,” he said.
Oketsang said in another case a 20-year-old woman of Mannathoko ward, Serowe, was also attacked and raped whilst in her sleep after she forgot to lock the door after arriving from the bar late at night. “She was woken up by an unknown intruder busy on top of her who later fled the crime scene unidentified. Investigations are ongoing to locate and arrest the suspect who is still at large. We continue to record a shocking trend in which women are attacked while in their sleep and raped and these cases continue to rise despite our efforts to fight the scourge,” Oketsang said. Oketsang urged residents not to sleep with their windows and doors unsecured notwithstanding the heatwave.
He said for years they have been battling rape incidents that occur at drinking spots in the cattle posts with most of the perpetrators being herdsmen, but they have since established a trend in which women are attacked and raped within the villages in his policing area. Meanwhile, Oketsang said Independence holidays were much better as they did not record serious offences as compared to the same period last year.
He said as for corporate offences which include burglary, store breaking, house breaking, home invasion and robbery, they recorded only one case of breaking into a motor vehicle as compared to 14 cases the same period last year. “As for prevalent offences which include murder, rape, threat to kill, defilement, attempted murder or rape, stealing stock, to mention but a few, these holidays we recorded only one case of murder. We had recorded no murder case last year. As for defilement, we recorded two cases as compared to three cases last year, for threat-to-kill we recorded a single case as compared to the same number last year,” he said.
Addressing traffic offences, Oketsang said they continue to see drivers who still over speed unnecessary risking other people’s lives but luckily they did not record fatalities. He stated that speeding vastly increases the chance of a collision resulting in injuries or death. He said motorists’ attitude towards key road safety issues such as overspeeding, overtaking risk, and drink and driving remain a major road safety concern but they continue to mount road blocks, highway patrols during holidays and busy weekends that have since proved to be effective.
