South African rapper OkMalumKoolKat was arrested and has been sentenced for one month in jail on charges of sexually assaulting a woman after the 2016 MONA FOMA cultural festival in Tasmania. Brian Simiso Zwane, the rapper's real name, was initially sentenced for six months, but his five months was suspended.
The Mercury reported the Johannesburg rapper was charged for sexually 'mauling" his fellow artists in the Hobart hotel room. His lawyers have been pushing for a fine so that he can get out of Australia.
According to the reports, he went out drinking with his friends. When he got back to the hotel by 5:30 a.m. he couldn't find his way and ended up into the Old Woolstore. He entered the victim's room through the sliding door that the woman left unlocked, according to Crown prosecutor Rebecca Lancaster.
Destiny Man wrote that the rapper's lawyer, Steven Chopping, said Zwane was remorseful. Chopping pushed for a substantial fine, but the Magistrate Michael Daley immediately sentenced him.
"Imagine if the complainant was in court now and essentially the sentence was: you can come here provided you've got a ticket home. You do a couple of days in custody on remand - that's the end of it," said the Magistrate. "It was a gross invasion, a terrible invasion. She was entitled to be [secure] without you mauling her like this," he said.
According to Sunday World, one of OkMalumKookKat's relatives said they were shocked when they learned that he was arrested in Australia on sexual assault charges. His relative, who asked not to be named, said they weren't officially informed by the rapper's arrest yet. Department of International Relations spokesman Nelson Kgwere said they also didn't know about the arrest.
Stamp Communications, OkMalumKoolKat's PR company, said in a Tweet that they were surprised with the arrest of the rapper. They said they didn't know of any history of sexual violence that the rapper has. They won't dispute the victim's accusations, and they would follow the court's ruling.
