{"id":31761,"date":"2023-07-24T09:16:50","date_gmt":"2023-07-24T09:16:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/qachas-nek-rape-suspect-freed-on-bail"},"modified":"2023-07-24T09:29:03","modified_gmt":"2023-07-24T09:29:03","slug":"qachas-nek-rape-suspect-freed-on-bail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/qachas-nek-rape-suspect-freed-on-bail","title":{"rendered":"Qacha\u2019s Nek rape suspect freed on bail"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. <\/strong><\/span>A Qacha\u2019s Nek rape suspect who has been languishing in remand prison since December last year was finally granted bail on Monday. The 14-year-old victim had fiercely opposed bail claiming she would be harmed if he was released on bail.<\/p>\n

However, the magistrate, \u2019Mampho Mokoena, granted Kamohelo Mokhele, 23, bail after his lawyer argued that the prosecution seemed no longer interested in the case.<\/p>\n

Mokhele\u2019s lawyer, Advocate Ntabe Ntabe argued that his client was being taken from his prison cell to the magistrate\u2019s court only to be remanded back to custody without the case proceeding.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is unfair,\u201d Advocate Ntabe said. Magistrate Mokoena relied on the provisions of the Speedy Courts Trial Act 2002 to release Mokhele on bail pending completion of his trial.<\/p>\n

\u201cA person shall not be remanded in custody for a period exceeding 60 days unless there are compelling reasons to the contrary and such reasons shall be recorded in writing,\u201d reads Section 4 of the Speedy Courts Trial Act, 2002.<\/p>\n

In 2021 Chief Justice Sakoane Sakoane operationalised the Act by gazetting the Subordinate Courts Practice Direction (Streamlining the Processing of Cases on Pre-Trial Remand Pending Further Investigations).<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen making an application for a further remand at the end of the 60 days from the date of first remand of the accused in court, the prosecutor shall submit to the remanding court the relevant material on whose basis a further remand is sought, including affidavits by the investigating officer on the time-frame for concluding the investigations,\u201d the gazette reads.<\/p>\n

It also requires \u201ccitations of the statutory provision and precedents on further remand pending finalisation of investigation versus the accused\u2019s right to trial within a reasonable time\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe prosecutor shall only apply for further remand if satisfied, on the information and material supplied by the investigating officer that further remand will not unjustifiably cause delay in bringing the accused to trial within a reasonable time,\u201d the gazette reads.<\/p>\n

Advocate Ntabe said it was unfair that Mokhele had spent months in jail without his case being heard. He also complained that the prosecution was often not available on the dates Mokhele was to appear before court.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy client was denied bail some months back and now the case is taking too long to go for hearing and he has been attending remands without fail,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

When applying for bail shortly after his arrest, Mokhele told the court that he is a married man whose wife is unemployed and his family depends on him for their daily needs.<\/p>\n

He told the court that he has a child. The court had denied him bail on grounds that the girl he allegedly raped said she was afraid that he would harm her as they are neighbours.<\/p>\n

The court heard that in December last year the girl was herding the family\u2019s flock of goats in the veld away from the village when Mokhele approached her, praising her for herding the goats.<\/p>\n

Mokhele, the court heard, then overpowered the girl and raped her and ordered her to not tell anyone. The girl reported the matter to her grandmother and Mokhele was arrested. In coming to the decision, Magistrate Mokoena said it was not Mokhele\u2019s fault that the case was not being prosecuted.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Lesotho<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. A Qacha\u2019s Nek rape suspect who has been languishing in remand prison since December last year was finally granted bail on Monday. The 14-year-old victim had fiercely opposed bail claiming she would be harmed if he was released on bail. However, the magistrate, \u2019Mampho Mokoena, granted Kamohelo Mokhele, 23, bail after his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":31760,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[233,246,245,1071],"class_list":["post-31761","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-lesotho","tag-lesotho","tag-qacha"],"yoast_head":"\nQacha\u2019s Nek rape suspect freed on bail - Lesotho<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A Qacha\u2019s Nek rape suspect who has been languishing in remand prison since December last year was finally granted bail o ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/qachas-nek-rape-suspect-freed-on-bail\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Qacha\u2019s Nek rape suspect freed on bail\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A Qacha\u2019s Nek rape suspect who has been languishing in remand prison since December last year was finally granted bail o ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/qachas-nek-rape-suspect-freed-on-bail\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lesotho\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-07-24T09:16:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-07-24T09:29:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2023\/07\/sm_1690178229.80063.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"414\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"274\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/qachas-nek-rape-suspect-freed-on-bail#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/qachas-nek-rape-suspect-freed-on-bail\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Qacha\u2019s Nek rape suspect freed on bail\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-07-24T09:16:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-07-24T09:29:03+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/qachas-nek-rape-suspect-freed-on-bail\"},\"wordCount\":558,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/qachas-nek-rape-suspect-freed-on-bail#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2023\/07\/sm_1690178229.80063.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Lesotho\",\"Lesotho\",\"Qacha\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"community\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/qachas-nek-rape-suspect-freed-on-bail#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/qachas-nek-rape-suspect-freed-on-bail\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/qachas-nek-rape-suspect-freed-on-bail\",\"name\":\"Qacha\u2019s Nek rape suspect freed on bail - 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