Hopolang Mokhopi
MASERU Senior Resident Magistrate Thabang Tapole has acquitted Reabetsoe “Katara” Bulane, an employee of Capello Restaurant, of raping Priscilla Hakane at the Market Restaurant in Maseru Mall.
Bulane had been accused of raping a woman on 20 January last year at or near the Market Restaurant.
However, the court ruled on Friday that the prosecution had failed to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt, citing inconsistencies in Hakane’s testimony and a lack of corroborating evidence.
According to the charge, the alleged incident occurred late at night when Bulane approached Hakane’s friend, Thato, demanding payment of a bill.
“The complainant claimed that Katara followed her into the toilet and raped her,” Magistrate Tapole said.
However, the court found that Hakane’s intoxication, erratic memory, and contradictions in her statement raised doubts about her account’s reliability.
Magistrate Tapole noted that although the medical report showed bruises on the complainant’s body, the court concluded that these injuries were consistent with a physical altercation she had with her friend in an incident captured on CCTV footage.
He added that the prosecution’s case was further weakened because Hakane was alone with Bulane in the toilet at the time of the alleged assault.
All other witnesses only testified about what happened before or after the incident.
The CCTV footage did not cover the scenes inside of the toilet where the alleged rape took place, so the court ruled that the other evidence presented was merely circumstantial.
Magistrate Tapole further explained that both parties agreed Bulane had gone to the Hakane’s friends to demand payment of the bill, and when he could not get assistance from the intoxicated friend, he was told that Hakane was in the toilet — prompting him to go there.
“This has not been denied. When he could not get assistance from the drunken friend of the complainant, he was told that the complainant was in the toilet. That is why he went after her,” Tapole said.
The court heard that when the Bulane found Thato lying drunk outside the restaurant, unable to respond coherently, he was then told to go after Hakane, who had gone into the female toilet next to the restaurant.
Hakane stated that she had stayed longer in the toilet because she was too drunk. When Bulane entered, she asked him to leave, but he allegedly ignored her and locked the door. She claimed he told her in English, “You have to go. Your friend needs you.”
She alleged that he then held her by the throat to stop her from speaking and raped her. Afterward, as she tried to stand up, she could not. She said a man helped her to dress up and tried to assist her out of the toilet.
According to her, it was at that point that she began identifying the man as Bulane, asking him, “Why are you busy raping me? Who are you?” She said he did not respond and hurried out of the toilet.
When they reached the vicinity of the Market Restaurant, Hakane refused to leave, claiming she had been raped. She called out to Mpho Malema, a high school acquaintance and waiter at the Market Restaurant, who then alerted the staff.
Mpho reportedly told her that the man who had come out of the toilet with her was Bulane, who worked at the adjoining Capello Restaurant. Hakane insisted on identifying her assailant and refused to leave until staff members called everyone present.
When Bulane later emerged from the inner rooms, Hakane identified him as the person who had assaulted her.
However, after weighing all the evidence, Magistrate Tapole concluded that the prosecution had not met the required standard of proof, leading to Bulane’s acquittal and discharge on all charges.