By Thokozani Mazibuko
A 43-year-old man has been arrested for sexually violating her eight-year-old stepdaughter by rubbing his genitals on her private part and further assaulting his wife with a bush knife for trying to report the ordeal to the police.
The names of the man, the minor as well as that of the wife are known to this publication, but there shall be withheld for ethical reasons.
John, who was charged with two counts of contravening the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Act 15/2018, appeared at the Manzini Magistrates Court on Monday before Principal Magistrate Florence Msibi.
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On count one, which he allegedly committed on May 1, 20024, John was charged with the contravention of Section 77(1) (a) of the Sexual Offence and Domestic Violence Act 15/2018.
According to the charge sheet, the said accused person being a husband to one *Rose did unlawfully, intentionally and physically abuse the said Rose by assaulting her with a bush knife several times on both hands, and such conduct harmed or caused imminent harm to the safety, health and wellbeing of the said Rose and thereby did commit the offence of domestic violence.
On count two, John was charged with the contravention of Section 5 of the Sexual Offence and Domestic Violence Act 15/2018, in that during March 2024, at about 9 am, the said accused person unlawfully sexually violated one Happy (8) by rubbing his genitals on her private part, and thereby did commit the offence of domestic violence.
While leading evidence before the court to prove the commission of the offence, Rose told the court that on Friday at around 2:30 pm, she came back from work and took out her laundry in preparation to wash it.
She mentioned that while she was in a house that was under construction in the family yard, she called Happy and instructed her to fetch water for her from a nearby stream, with which she wanted to rinse her laundry.
She told the court that to her surprise, Happy blatantly refused to adhere to her command and she had to beg her several times before she finally agreed to go and fetch the water for her.
She told the court that upon her return, with the water that was in a bucket, Happy told her that she no longer wanted to stay at the family compound anymore.
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She mentioned that she then probed her as to why was it that she no longer wanted to stay within the family yard anymore and it was then that she finally disclosed to her that one of the fateful days, her stepfather sent her to sweep his room and while she was sweeping,
she forcefully grabbed her and threw her on the bed and rubbed his genitals on her private parts and thereafter, when he was done doing same, he forced her to vacate the room and she did.
Rose mentioned that Happy informed her that on the very same da
y, John did the same thing and further told her not to tell anyone about what he had done to her or else he was going to kill him.
Rose mentioned that when she confronted John, he did not deny committing the offence, but rather he said he did not know what had possessed him to commit such a felony.
Rose mentioned that after hearing that, she then came out of the house, took out her cell phone and called the police.
She mentioned that while she was calling the police, she heard a sharp object hitting her on her hands and when she verified what was happening, she realised that Jonh was assaulting her with a bush knife.
“Within a twinkle of an eye, he grabbed my cell phone and smashed it on the ground,” Rose said.
She further mentioned that while John was assaulting her,
One of her neighbours came out of his home and reprimanded him to desist from committing such a heinous act because by so doing, he risked being arrested, but he refused to heed the advice.
Rose mentioned that while all this was happening, her 17-year-old son emerged from nowhere and came to her rescue.
He mentioned that John then shifted his focus from her and pursued her child instead and that was when she got to opportunity to flee from the suspect and ask for help.
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She further told the court that, she was of the view that her child was traumatised by the experience because she now spent most of her time by herself.
She suggested that counselling should be sought for her as a matter of urgency.
The Crown mentioned that the minor would be taken to one of the counselling centres in Manzini.
John, on the other hand, told the court that the reason why he committed the offence was because Rose was concealing some of her children from him.
The matter continues on May 10, 2
