Murder cases unsettle Shoshong police
Pini Bothoko | Wednesday May 4, 2022 06:00
Shoshong assistant station commander, assistant superintendent George Simataa Mabuta told The Monitor that petty issues include arguments during beer drinking, fights over small amounts of money, and infidelity among others. Mabuta said in the past they have been conducting awareness campaigns urging people to respect the sanctity of life and avoid settling disputes through violent means but feel their efforts are in vain.
He revealed that from January to April they have already recorded five murder cases as compared to six murder cases recorded during the same period last year. “We envisage an environment where there are no murder cases. We have been conducting awareness campaigns educating people against settling disputes through violent means but our efforts appear to be falling on deaf ears. Recently, we have been recording murder cases involving relatives over petty issues like fighting over food,” he said. He revealed that a knife was the most popularly used among the dangerous weapons involved in such cases. Mabuta stated that the prevalent areas are Mosolotshane, Shoshong, Moralane, Kodibeleng and Tobela. He said most of these cases occur when both perpetrators and victims are under the influence of alcohol.
Furthermore, he said the mushrooming of shebeens in their policing area fuel violent and serious crimes like murder, assault and rape. “Most of these cases involve the youth. Recently, we held public outreach meetings in Mosolotshane sensitising members of the community about the dangers of operating shebeens and pleading with them to avoid settling disputes through violent means,” he said.
Mabuta said in a recent case, a 38-year-old man of Mahalapye assaulted his girlfriend to death with a metal chain at Mathabanela cattle post over cheating suspicions. He further stated that in another recent murder incident, a misunderstanding between brothers left one dead. The older brother stabbed his sibling with a sharp object landing him a brief hospital stay before succumbing to his injuries.
They were allegedly fighting over food. “In another case, a 22-year-old man fatally stabbed his cousin with a knife following an argument. Then, the victim had just arrived from the bar at night and found his cousin preparing food over a fire and then kicked the pot. A tussle started and resulted in one of them losing his life. These are death incidents that could have not happened if people respected the sanctity of life,” Mabuta said. He pleaded with parents to teach their children from a young age to respect the sanctity of life and avoid settling disputes through violent means.