Suspected child molester at liberty

Cathrine Moemedi
CHARGED: Percy Matlho

A violent and abusive man who attempted to kill a 16- year –old- girl that he had defiled and impregnated has been granted bail.

Charged with one count of attempted murder and another count of defilement for having sex with a girl under the age of 18 and impregnating her, 26- year old Percy Matlho was granted his freedom to await trial outside on Tuesday by the Maun Magistrate court.

He had landed in jail after he had allegedly severely assaulted and hung the teenager on the roof rafters.

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The court heard that the girl had visited Matlho on November 3rd, at Xaxaba settlement in the Okavango Delta where he lives and two days later, he attacked her on suspicions of cheating.

Desperate to get a confession out of her, Matlho is said to have assaulted her with fists and slaps before he dragged her to the bush where he further whipped her and hit her with a knobkerrie.

When the assault failed to get a confession from the young girl, Matlho is said to have dragged her to an abandoned hut where he hanged her on the rafters using a cable and released her just before she passed out.

He then proceeded to repeatedly torture her for three days until she made a lucky escape and ran back to her parent’s homestead.

In his last court appearance, the prosecution had made an application that Matlho be denied bail as the victim was still traumatized by the incident and the other potential witnesses feared giving statements and they were yet to be assured of their safety.

However, the status of the matter changed as the prosecution no longer opposed bail. According to the prosecutor, Ndiyona Makoyongo they have covered most of their investigations and they were no longer opposed to Matlho being granted bail.

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“We are not opposed to bail; the investigating officer has done part of investigations that we believe is paramount to our case. We make an application of a conditional bail as investigations are still ongoing” Pleaded Makoyongo.

Matlho has been granted bail on condition that he should not interfere with state witnesses, he should not meet with the complainant and he should also report to Maun Police station once a week.

The matter has been set for January 28th, 2022 for status update.

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