Thabo Masilo Freed Of Rape And Robbery Charges

Masilo was accused of robbing a woman of a Nokia X2 cellphone worth P800 in November 2012 at Kgale View in Gaborone. He was on Thursday discharged and acquitted of the charges by Village Magistrate, Goodwill Makofi.

“During the time of stealing he used actual violence to obtain and retain the property and overcome her resistance to it being stolen,” read his first offence in the charge sheet.  After the act Masilo was also accused of indecent assault. In his second count, he was said to have “unlawfully indecently assaulted the same woman by inserting his finger into her private parts.”

In setting the notorious Masilo free, Makofi indicated that there was no credible evidence against the 24-year-old murder accused.

He explained: “I have no such evidence against him. I may mention in passing that the police and all those charged with investigating crime owe it to themselves, the victims of crime and indeed the society at large to demonstrate fair and proper level of proficiency in their investigation.”

Makofi further ruled that, “in this case I could not help but notice that the authorities did not take their duty to investigate these crimes seriously, that is if they knew what they had to do.” The magistrate stressed that a suspect cannot be tried on gut feeling but by objectivity and credible evidence, which is in accordance with the laws of Botswana.

He said there being no credible evidence placing the accused person at the scene of the crime, on the date of the alleged offence, and in the absence of evidence that the complainant was sexually molested on the date of the alleged offences, “I hold that the evidence in support of the prosecution is to be discredited as a result of the cross examination.”

Makofi concluded that there was no legal basis and found Masilo not guilty and discharged him. Masilo is currently serving 10 years for raping and robbing another woman in Phase IV after he was convicted early this year by the Village Chief Magistrate Lenah Oahile-Mokibe.

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