Hitchhiking costs BIUST student her life
Pini Bothoko | Wednesday March 15, 2023 17:14
The learner lost her life on March 3 at Princess Marina Hospital where she was hospitalised after she was assaulted by a man who had given her a lift from Gaborone to Palapye recently. According to the police, the driver had demanded sex from the passenger but when she spurned his advances it is alleged he hit her with an object on the head and she collapsed. The suspect who was in the company of his girlfriend, who had blacked out in the car following a drinking spree on the trip, then drove off leaving the young woman near death.
Palapye Police Station commander, Superintendent Molly Lebala-Moduke said the deceased met her fate after hitchhiking from Gaborone to Palapye on March 1. “The deceased had hitched a ride from a bus stop near Airport Junction Mall in Gaborone to Palapye and was given a lift by a 35-year-old man of Mahalapye who was in the company of his girlfriend and two passengers who dropped off on the way,” she told The Monitor. “It is alleged that on the way the suspect claimed that his car had a mechanical fault, parked by the roadside, and later demanded sex from the young woman, but when she declined his advances he assaulted and left her almost dead.”
Luckily, according to Lebala-Moduke the student got consciousness and managed to hitchhike for the second time until she arrived at her destination where on arrival she shared what transpired with a friend. “That day she went to Palapye hospital where she was hospitalised and later referred to PMH where she succumbed to the injuries a day after. We investigated the matter and managed to arrest the suspect who is currently in police custody for the murder investigation. Investigations into the matter are ongoing,” she added.