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Watch – More on prison term for police rapists – AIM report
6:54 CAT | 25 Nov 2016
TVM
A court in the southern Mozambican city of Inhambane on Wednesday found two policemen guilty of raping a 17 year old girl, and has sentenced them each to nine year jail terms.
The judge, Alexandre Jovo, ordered the two men to pay 50,000 meticais (about 675 US dollars) in compensation to their victim, plus legal costs.
According to the report of the trial in Thursday’s issue of the Maputo daily “Noticias”, the court found that the two policemen had detained the girl and her 18 year old boyfriend because they were not carrying any identification document (although this is not a crime, police frequently harass citizens who are not carrying an identity card on their person).
In the police station, both men forced themselves upon the girl (who cannot be named). In addition, they ordered the couple to do menial tasks, such as sweeping the station patio and cleaning the bathrooms. All of this was in flagrant violation of the law, the judge said.
The defence lawyer, David Foloco, had argued that the girl was older than 17 – but examination by a doctor at Inhambane Provincial Hospital confirmed her age, and that she had been sexually assaulted.
Jovo noted that the two policemen had later contacted the girl and her family in an attempt to persuade them to settle the case out of court, and offered them a bribe of 10,000 meticais. The judge regarded this as an admission of guilt.
Jovo said that by forcing the girl to have sex with them, the two men had forgotten one of their basic duties as members of the police force, which was to protect minors.
Foloco told reporters that he disagreed with the verdict. He intended to discuss a possible appeal with his clients.
Source: AIM/TVM
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