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to obtaining possession, as a correlative to disposal.
Section 3 of this Ordinance inserts a new section
4.
3A in the principal Ordinance. This new section takes
one defence away from the defendant to any charge under
section 3 of the principal Ordinance, as it provides
that it shall be no defence to any charge under that
section that the woman or girl in question consented
to the transaction or received any part of the
consideration.
5. It has been suggested that a possible defence to
a charge of harbouring under the former section 18 of
Ordinance No. 4 of 1897 would have been that the
accused was the person who had taken the girl out of
the possession of the person having the lawful care of
her, and that harbouring and taking are mutually
exclusive.
It is not to be supposed that the accused
would have expressly admitted the suggested fact, unless
the taking was outside our jurisdiction, but it would have
been argued that the evidence of the prosecution
naturally led to that conclusion. On the other hand,
it is just possible that the evidence of the prosecution
would not have been sufficient to discharge the onus
of proof of a charge of taking under section 26 of the
Ordinance, because under that section practically the
whole onus is on the prosecution, whereas under section
18 a considerable onus is thrown on the defendant.
Accordingly, section 4 of this Ordinance amends section 18
of the principal Ordinance so as to make it clear that
the person who abducts or imports may be convicted of
harbouring. The opportunity is taken of expanding the word "harbour" into "harbour, detain, or have under control".