Traditional doctor's word divides village
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Tuesday March 1, 2022 06:00
On Wednesday last week, there was an all-out strike over the traditional doctor’s alleged ‘prophesy’ that divided residents leaving some buildings destroyed as many believed what he allegedly told the father of the 25-year-old missing person in the village.
Mistrust between the families of Ketogile Batenegi, the missing young man, sparked the strike. Batenegi’s family from both his father and mother’s sides had been pointing fingers at each other over his mysterious disappearance.
Batenegi went missing on February 14, 2022 after he allegedly told his nephew that he is going to download music somewhere in the village, but did not state the specific place and never returned.
According to a source within the village, things became messy after the concerned father of Batenegi allegedly consulted the ‘alleged traditional doctor’ who told him that his son is alive someplace. “Then Batenigi’s father informed some members of his son’s family from the mother’s side who got angry and told other people. Then [with word getting around] a certain concerned group sought permission to look for Batenegi from the village kgosi who told them that he could not grant such permission to people based on a rumour as it would also be against the law. Some people were not happy with kgosi’s decision and blame him and Batenegi’s father for his disappearance. They then harassed and injured the father as they claimed that he was aware of what could have happened to his son. They were threatening anyone they alleged knew the whereabouts of the missing person,” the source told The Monitor.
The source added the situation in the village was terrible as some residents had to covertly move to others’ houses for their safety after the ‘concerned’ residents acted on hearsay.
It is also believed that the kgosi and his family took refuge elsewhere, as the residents were blaming him for not permitting them to look for the missing person where the alleged traditional doctor’s claims had directed them. However, officer commanding for Serowe district, senior Superintendent Paul Seoketsane said they have deployed officers to calm the situation. He revealed that so far they have arrested 32 people, 17 women and 15 men.
“They are likely to face malicious damage to the motor vehicles as they had smashed police vehicles, unlawful wounding and arson. The father of the missing person is hospitalised at Sekgoma { Memorial Hospital). He has sustained head injuries. The tribal administration block, which has close to five officers, has been burnt down. Investigation on this matter is ongoing,” Oketsang said.
The police boss said the suspects might appear before court today. The whereabouts of the missing person are not yet known according to police.
For now, Tshimoyapula – a village in the Central District of Botswana 45 kilometres north-east of Serowe – struggles to account for one of their own gone missing in a population that last stood at 1,467.