Girl rape case: let law take its course

THE story of the 10-year-old girl alleged to have been raped repeatedly by her stepfather over five years after the death of her mother, has shocked a nation.

As the sordid details of the case began to emerge in a bail hearing last week, people from all communities were collectively repulsed by the sheer depravity of it all.

They shook their heads in shock and disbelief that an innocent little girl was robbed of an opportunity to live a normal childhood, like most other children her age, and be forced to experience something so morally unconscionable.

Quite understandably, people are filled with anger and outrage and instinctively cry out for revenge and instant retribution.

Who can blame them? If the allegations are proved in a court of law, it’s hard to even imagine the psychological trauma she must have suffered over the past five years, especially after the tragedy of losing her mother.

But a word of caution is needed in these times. Balanced against this public anger is the need for the law to be allowed to take its course.

In criminal law, a person must be presumed to be innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This means that the State in this case has to prove, with evidence, the guilt of the person suspected of the crime.

This is sometimes hard to accept especially when emotions run high and the court of public opinion presumes a person to be guilty even before a judge or magistrate has had a chance to determine the person’s guilt or otherwise.

In this particular case, the lawyer acting for the stepfather – who cannot be named to protect the identity of the child – has claimed his client was assaulted by members of the community as well as by officers of a local security company.

In fact, reports have emerged of a video on social media showing the suspect being assaulted and tazered by men in black uniforms.

As police have rightly pointed out, members of the public and security officials are allowed to help in apprehending a suspect and handing that person over to the police.

But they are not allowed to take the law into their own hands.

If an accused person is prosecuted and found guilty in a court of law, they must face the consequences of their actions.

The law must be allowed to take its course.