ARREST LAWYER, RELATIVES - SAVE THE CHILDREN

MBABANE – “Arrest the lawyer and his relatives who concealed evidence.”

This statement was made by Save the Children Fund, following reports of a well-known attorney, who allegedly sexually violated four of his own children, his niece and a domestic helper. The lawyer is alleged to have impregnated the children and forced them to use abortion tablets. Two of the minors and his helper gave birth, allegedly to his children. One of the abused children told the police that she tried to commit suicide several times, while another was removed from the lawyer’s homestead to a place of safety.

Relatives

Advocacy and Communication Officer at Save the Children Fund, Lusito Tsela, said the relatives who did not report the abuse despite being aware of what was happening to the minors,  should be charged under the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence (SODV) Act 15/2018. Tsela said as an organisation, they were appealing for the law to take its course. “If anyone commits a crime, regardless of their position, the law should take its course and they should answer for all their crimes.” He said it was painful that not only the abused children had suffered, but other people as well. Tsela said the police should speed up their investigations and ensure that the perpetrator was put behind bars ‘where he belonged’.

Survivors

Further, he said the survivors also needed to get assistance in terms of therapy. According to Tsela, once a crime was reported to the police, it became of interest to the State and police needed to follow it up until the end. “The police should do their job and the perpetrator be arrested,” he said. He alleged that the lawyer had violated the rights of the children and also the laws of the country that sought to protect minors. When questioned why the lawyer was not arrested for such a serious crime, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Phila Dlamini, said the case file was received by his office last week and assured that the law would take its course. “Once all the evidence is before us, the law will take its course without fear or favour,” said the DPP. This, he said, was an assurance to the nation.

However, Dlamini said in cases of a sexual nature, courts were required to treat them with caution. This, he said, was due to the fact that some people were dishonest. The DPP stated that in this case, his office was still consulting with the Sexual and Domestic Violence Unit under the Royal Eswatini Police Services (REPS), to make sure that when they decided to take a step, it was the right one. He said people might blame his office for delaying justice, yet the case was received last week by his office.  “It is the police who could explain what had caused the delay and not us,” stated the DPP. Dlamini said police had informed him that there was consultation between the police and the DPP’s Office, since the case was reported them, although they could not explain to the public about the delay.

Meanwhile, when explaining the delay, Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati said they were still investigating. Vilakati said a suspect was arrested following conclusive investigations, which implicated them to a crime and if they were sure of a conviction, working with the DPP’s Office. Deputy Prime Minister’s Office Communications Officer Mihla Khumalo requested to be given time to familiarise himself with the matter before responding. He had been asked why the survivors were not rescued in time.

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