Prosecution seeks stiff sentences in police rape trial in Inhambane – Mozambique

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Prosecution seeks stiff sentences in police rape trial in Inhambane – Mozambique

8:53 CAT | 18 Nov 2016

The Mozambican Public Prosecutor’s Office has called for stiff sentences against two policemen. W. Mbambamba and S. Zandamela, who are on trial for the alleged rape of a 17 year old girl inside a police station in the southern Mozambican city of Inhambane

According to the report of the trial in the Maputo daily “Noticias”, in summing up the prosecution case on Wednesday, the Inhambane City Chief Attorney, Angela Chongo, said the rape had been proved beyond doubt. The two policemen had apologized to their victim (who, given her age, cannot be named), and had offered a bribe of 10,000 meticais (about 133 US dollars) to her boyfriend.

“Nobody apologises for something which didn’t happen”, said Chongo. “If the accused went looking for the victims, it was in recognition of what they had done and to accept their guilt. So justice should be done with an effective sentence”.

“These are members of the police force”, she added. “But they forgot the oath they swore, and they abused the minor instead of protecting her from criminals”.

The defence lawyer, David Foloco, claimed that the girls’ employers and her boyfriend had orchestrated the complaint in order to damage the image of the police. He said that, prior to the alleged rape, the two men had exemplary police records.

Foloco also resorted to the tactic of blaming the victim. “If the victim is a minor, how come she has a boyfriend?”, he asked. “The medical report indicates that she is pregnant, certainly by this same boyfriend”.

He claimed that the girl had also abandoned a baby she was supposed to be caring for in order to spend the night in her boyfriend’s room.

The lawyer was thus trying to turn a trial of two alleged rapists into a trial of the victim – although under Mozambican legislation the supposedly loose morals of victims is never an acceptable defence in rape cases.

Source: AIM