FLASHBACK: Oakile Ketshwenyegile found guilty

A Chadibe father, who last year fondled his biological daughter’s breasts and vagina before begging her for sex, is facing a prospect of spending the next five years behind bars after he was found guilty of a single count of indecent assault.
44-year-old Oakile Ketshwenyegile had pleaded not guilty to the charges but was recently convicted by Francistown principal magistrate Kgololesego Segabo on overwhelming evidence by the state. The court proved that on the chilly night of June 26 2011 while in their one-roomed at Chadibe village – some 45km northwest of Francistown – Ketshwenyegile fondled his 17-year-old daughter’s breasts and private parts in an attempt to have sexual intercourse with her.

Convicting Ketshwenyegile, the presiding officer carefully balanced all the factors raised by all the state witnesses resulting in him finding the accused person guilty as charged with a single count of indecent assault.
Segabo described the complainant as a credible and truthful witness who only wanted justice to take its course and nothing else. “I carefully observed the complainant giving testimony in court during trial. She gave her testimony calmly and logically. I am impressed that the complainant is a credible and truthful witness,” said the magistrate. Segabo said the evidence led before court proved that the father forcefully put his hand into his daughter’s inner pants and fondled her vagina.

“There is no doubt that the complainant put up some resistance prompting her 5-year-old sister who was sleeping next her to wake up. The 5-year-old cried upon seeing the skirmishes between her father and the sister,” he said.
He said the complainant could not have falsely implicated her father because her evidence was collaborated by Thato Sambino (the second prosecution witness) and Priscilla Sebogodi, who was the young girl’s teacher.

“The victim in this matter loved his father. She accepted his father’s apology in the initial incident. She did not want anything but to continue having a cordial relationship with her father. But her father tried to take advantage,” he ruled out.
The magistrate reiterated that the complainant is a competent and credible witness who at the earliest opportunity after the occurrence of the incident reported the matter to Sambino who then took her to the school.

“Instead of going to school the following morning (on the 27th of June 2011), she went to Sambino and narrated her ordeal to her,” he said. After passing the judgment, Segabo remanded the accused person in custody. This follows concerns raised by the prosecution that if the accused person is released on bail, chances of him running away are very high. Ketshwenyegile will be sentenced in the next weeks.

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