Attorney-General v Tion is an appeal by the Attorney-General against an acquittal on charges of rape and criminal trespass. In this case, the respondent, while intoxicated, engaged in sexual intercourse with the complainant, who initially believed he was her husband. After intercourse, the complainant realized the respondent was not her husband, and the respondent claimed he too had been mistaken until that moment.
The accused was convicted of rape and sentenced to a custodial term of imprisonment of 18 months. He appeals on the grounds that the lower court erred in convicting him in contradiction of the Medical Report that found it was a fabricated rape.
The plaintiff-wife sought the dissolution of her marriage to the defendant on the grounds of his previous marriage under the Sotho custom. The Court declared the marriage to be null and void on the grounds that the plaintiff agreed to the marriage through fraud, believing that the defendant was unmarried at the time and would not have agreed to the marriage if she had known the truth.
