IN THE
HIGH COURT OF LESOTHO

In the
matter between:-

REX

V

MATJOLA
TEKANE

CRI S
5/2007 CR.1758/2006

MASERU

SENTENCE

DELIVERED
BY THE HONOURABLE MRS JUSTICE KJ, GUNI 27th APRIL 2007

The
record of the proceedings in this matter was forwarded to this court
from the Magistrate Court - Sitting at MASERU. The accused
person was
charged and convicted of the crime of PERSISTENT SEXUAL ABUSE OF THE
MINOR CHILD. The trial of this accused person was
before the
Magistrate MATHAHA. The Magistrate sent the accused to the High Court
for sentence IN TERMS OF SECTION 31 (2) SEXUAL
OFFENCES ACT 2003, on
the ground that the sentence provided for in the statute is beyond
his or her personal powers.

1

The
penalty stipulated by section 32 (a) (v) SEXUAL OFFENCE ACT 2003, is
the minimum of [15] fifteen years imprisonment. The accused
person
was charged and convicted in terms of SECTION 9 (1) SEXUAL OFFENCES
ACT 2003. Therefore his sentence has been set out in
the above
mentioned section.

PROVED
FACTS

At the
trial it was proved that the accused person and the victim of the
persistent sexual abuse knew each other very well. They
are an uncle
and a niece. The accused convinced the minor girl child that she
should in accordance with tradition and custom be
taught to practice
sex by her father. Assuming and I suppose correctly so, that the
victim's natural father who was the brother
of the accused person is
not practicing sex with his daughter, the accused pointed out to his
niece - the victim that he as an
uncle - standing in her father's
place should take up the responsibility to teach the little girl how
to practice sex. The victim
expressed the view that her father does
not teach her to practice sex. In fact her father does not even talk
about sex with her.

2

On the
first occasion of her sexual lessons by her uncle, the victim was
seated on the chair when the uncle removed her under pants
and
engaged her in sexual relations there on the chair where she was
seated. This alleged sex lesson took place in the minor child's
own
home.

The
second time, the accused person had sex with this minor was again in
her very own home. The victim was sent to the uncle's place
of
residence to collect a suitcase from the accused person's wife. The
accused person's wife was ill. As a result, she was in bed
when the
victim arrived at her house. The victim asked for the suitcase which
was pointed out to her. She collected it and left
the bedroom where
the accused person's wife was sleeping.

On her
way out she met the accused person who ordered the victim to wait for
him while he proceeded into his bedroom to deposit
his bag which he
had carried in his hand when he arrived from work. The victim waited
for him. After depositing his bag he came
to join the victim and they
both walked to her residence.

3

At the
victim's home there was one person at home. Her name was Ntekeleng
who was still cooking the family's evening meal. She -
Ntekeleng
asked the victim to keep an eye on the pots on the cooker, while she
- Ntekeleng went out to breastfeed her baby who
was crying at the
time. The accused person was left in the kitchen with the victim. He
and the victim went into the next room -which
was the boy's bedroom.

The
accused person told the victim that as the father to her, he is the
one who must open her up. As he said these words, he started

undressing her by removing her pair of trousers and her panties. He
engaged her in a sexual act on the bed in that room. Ntekeleng

returned to the kitchen. She saw the accused person on top of the
victim in the boys bedroom. The accused person also noticed Ntekeleng

who now was coming to wards them.

The
accused person got off the victim. He rushed to the door which he
slam closed in the face of Ntekeleng - hitting her with the
said
door. The victim also got up. She dressed and came into the kitchen.

The
accused indicated that he wants to go to the shop to buy some
batteries. He asked Ntekeleng to allow the victim to come along

4

with him
after pointing out the shop where they will go and that they will be
very quick {i.e. is to say they will return in no
time]. After
considering the closeness of the shop indicated by the accused
Ntekeleng allowed the victim to go with the accused
person. On the
way the accused elected to go with the victim to the shop furthest
away from her home - not the one he had indicated
to Ntekeleng. The
victim went along with the accused's latest choice of shop. On the
way there or from there they had to pass the
reeds growing near the
dam. The accused threw the victim in the bush of reeds and once again
undressed and had sex with her.

The
minimum sentence prescribed by the law for this type of the crime
under SEXUAL OFFENCES ACT 2003, is fifteen (15) years imprisonment.

MITIGATION

The
accused has asked the court to temper the course of justice with
mercy. He has pointed out to this court that he left behind
a wife
with a baby. According to the accused the health of his wife is not
good. In addition to her poor health the accused's wife
will be alone
if her husband is sent to prison. The accused pointed out that the
relations between himself and the members of his
family

5

are not
what he feels comfortable to live his wife alone with them. Although
the accused claims that his abuse of his brother's
daughter is not
the cause of the deterioration of the relations between members of
his family, evidence on record at the trial,
shows this court that
the members of the family dealt cordially with great trust with each
other. That trust is what this accused
abused when he took the
opportunity to sexually abuse the child every time he was in the same
room or space with that child. The
minor child's mother sent that
chilled on errands at the accused's house. The accused came to the
brother's house and stayed inside
the house in the absence of the
parents. Such was the parents' trust of the accused. I do not believe
that the relations between
the accused and some members of his family
were anything but cordial, prior to his atrocious behaviour. It
should be expected that
the said minor child's parents and other
relatives are very unhappy with the accused, as a direct result of
his own very bad behaviour.

The
accused is sentenced to fifteen years imprisonment.

K J. GUNI

JUDGE

6