Mbabane – A 23-year old man accused of sexually assaulting a woman by pulling down her pants stunned the magistrate of his reasons to do so.
“I wanted to have sex with her,” Nathi Mnisi who was arrested and charged for violating the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence (SODV) Act of 2018 said.
This was after Principal Magistrate Fikile Nhlabatsi had posed a question to the accused during the court proceedings. The court interpreter had just read out the charge on Mnisi before the prosecution asked him as to how he pleads. Principal Nhlabatsi, while also scribbling, had asked him the question, “Why did you undress her?”
Mnisi, who pleaded guilty to unlawfully pulling down the complainants’ (20) pants, stated that his intentions were to have sexual intercourse her. But she refused. The identity of the survivor is concealed. His actions were aimed at initiating sexual activity, though intercourse ultimately did not take place.
The accused confessed that his advances were rejected by the complainant who later laid the charge. This incident allegedly occurred on May 14, 2025, in the Hhohho region. According to the charge sheet, the survivor had her pants pulled down exposing her buttocks without her consent.
“The accused person is charged of contravening section six of the SODV Act 15 of 2018 int hat upon or about the 14th of May 2025, and near Mantabeni in the Hhohho region, the said accused person did unlawfully inspire the belief on**********that she shall be sexually violated by undressing her pants, and did that thereby contravening the said act,” the charge sheet reads in part.
Msibi offered only an apology to the survivor. Nhlabatsi, however, did not take the matter lightly as she handed down her sentence. Mnisi was sentenced to pay a E8 000 fine or to serve a five year jail term. Nhlabatsi said the seriousness of the offense and the importance of adhering to consent were partly determinant in her sentencing.
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