soldier accused of raping minor

NAME OF ARTICLE:Solder accused of raping minor

NAME OF JOURNALIST:’Mantoetsi Maama

DATE:29-May 04-June 2011

COUNTRY:Lesotho

THEME:child abuse,gender violence

SKILLS:Language

GENRE:News

GEM CLASSIFICATION:Gender aware

Maseru-A 23-year-old solder briefly appeared before the Quthing magistrate’s court on Monday accused of raping a 13-year-old girl.Police said Private Nkuebe Letsie was arrested on Monday May 19 hours after he had allegedly raped the girl near a shop where she works as an assistant.

Senior Superitendent Mofekeng Kolo of Quthing police said medical tests conducted after the alleged assault had revealed that the girl,an orphan,was pregnant.However it is believed that the minor was already pregnant by then.”We suspect that she had been raped on several occasions before but she did not report the previous incidents,” said Kolo.

Lesotho Mounted Police Service spokesperson Masupha Masupha also confirmed the incident which occurred around 9pm when the victim who works at a village went out to answer the call of nature.Masupha said the supect who was around the shop premises saw the girl walk out and followed her to the toilet where he allegedly raped her once.

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