SHOCKED MOTHER

Teenager in defilement trouble after impregnating 16-year-old

The mother of a 16-year-old teenage girl was on Thursday left speechless, after discovering that her only child is pregnant. The news of the pregnancy emerged after the Form Three student at a junior school in Mahalapye, complained to her mother about feeling unwell. The concerned mother, who was occupied at the time, asked relatives to take the child to the hospital.

At the hospital, the girl complained of nausea, constant vomiting, and headache. The medical officers conducted a pregnancy test, which showed that she was two months pregnant. The shocked relatives took the teenager to the mother and reported what had transpired.

When the mother asked the teenager about her pregnancy, she confessed in a panic that she had been dating a 19-yearold boy for seven months and that they last had sex on December 3.

The concerned mother then consulted social workers and later reported the matter to the police.

Asked about the matter, Mahalapye central police Station Commander, Boitshepo Mudongo confirmed the defilement case. He said they arrested the teenage boy and charged him with defilement.

“The 19-year-old boy is out of school, and it is a defilement case as the girl is underage,” Mudongo said. She revealed that the teenage boy was released the next day after questioning.

According to the laws of Botswana, defilement is a crime committed when an adult has sex with a minor under the age of 18 years.

The minimum charge for sexually abusing children below the age of 18 is now 20 years or a maximum of life in prison.

If an offender is found to have HIV and was unaware, the minimum penalty is 25 years, but if aware of one’s status, the minimum charge is 30 years.