Picture: Succo/Pixabay Picture: Succo/Pixabay
Pretoria - Lentsoe Mohajane, accused of raping a 9-year-old from Soshanguve was on Friday denied bail.
Handing down his bail judgment, the magistrate said granting the accused bail would mean society would lose confidence in the justice system. In addition, the accused would not be safe around the community.
The family reacted with relief and excitement to the ruling.
The girl’s aunt told Pretoria News that confidence in the justice system was slowly being restored.
“We are very happy; this is a relief for us as family and this has actually restored our confidence in the justice system.
“We are confident that the accused will get a maximum sentence, which is what he deserves,” she said.
State prosecutor Ronnie Sibanda told the court that the doctor who examined the child confirmed the forced penetration of the child and that the State had a strong case against the accused.
In an affidavit read out in court in support of his bail application during his previous appearance, the 29-year-old man said he did not notice she was young and they both agreed to have sex in the bushes.
Mohajane said he intended to plead not guilty as by his version of events, he had actually proposed to her to be his girlfriend and she had agreed.
He said they then both agreed to go to the bushes and have sex, with the girl being in a hurry to get back to the party before her elders would notice she was missing.
Mohajane alleged he had no idea he had done anything wrong until two days later when he was arrested by the police.
But his bid to get bail was unsuccessful in the Soshanguve Magistrate’s Court. The case was reminded until April 3.
