– Thamaga youth charged with murder, defilement and assault
No stranger to the inside of a courtroom, last Thursday a 22-year-old Kumakwane man, who has an outstanding murder case against him, found himself back in court accused of defilement and assault.
While out on bail awaiting trial for the 2019 murder of his girlfriend, Omphemetse Mothoesi is said to have defiled a 15-year-old schoolgirl on 7 May.
Two months later, on Wednesday 28 July, he allegedly assaulted the same girl, beating her in the left eye with a stone.
When the teenager’s mother spotted her daughter’s swollen face and asked her what happened, the child replied she fell and hurt herself.
Unconvinced, the concerned mum grew even more suspicious when Mothoesi turned up at their house later in the day to drop off the girl’s jacket. She immediately reported her suspicions to the police.
Upon questioning, the underage teen reportedly told the cops Mothoesi was her boyfriend and they had been sleeping together since May.
It appears he had opened a Facebook account for her, which he had access to, but grew jealous when she created a new account.
Convinced she was cheating on him, he is said to have assaulted her.
Appearing before Molepolole Magistrates Court the very next day, the youthful looking Botlhapapelo ward native maintained he thought the sex was legal, claiming the complainant had lied about her age.
“We met in January this year and in February she told me it was her birthday month. I asked her age and she told me she was turning 19, then I bought her a chocolate,” a nervous Mothoesi told court as he protested his innocence and begged to be allowed to go home.
However, the prosecution successfully argued that with a pending murder case against him, the suspect was not a suitable candidate for bail.
Meanwhile, a police source also told The Voice that Mothoesi is under investigation for another defilement case in which he allegedly impregnated a 12-year-old girl.
The child is said to be a Standard Four pupil, with the cops waiting for her to give birth before they conduct a DNA test and register the matter before court.
The lanky youth will remain behind bars until 19 August, when he is due back in court for mention.