Soldier assaults girlfriend, commits suicide

Lesedi Mkhutshwa | Wednesday April 26, 2023 12:16

 

It was reported that the deceased soldier took his life within 24 hours of his release from police custody. The Maipaafela man was charged with two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and assault common.

Tatitown Police Station commander, Superintendent Boipuso Baatweng has told MmegiOnline that they were investigating a case of suicide involving a BDF private. He said that the 31-year-old officer took his life after he attacked his girlfriend and three of her family members using a machete.

The incident happened a day after the deceased was released from a holding cell on Monday. Baatweng said that they received a report about a man "attacking a certain family with a machete" in Maipaafela yesterday (Tuesday) morning.

“The perpetrator fled the area after committing the offences. We began a search but later received a call that he was found by one of his cousins hanging [by the neck] at his family house,” he added, saying the deceased lived about 400 metres away from his girlfriend’s residence. Baatweng indicated that the police found him hanging from the rafters of the family house spare room.

The Tatitown police boss said the soldier was then taken to Nyangabgwe Referral Hospital (NRH) where he was certified dead. He shared that all of his four victims including the deceased's girlfriend, sustained serious injuries and were rushed to the nearest clinic following a matchet attack.

The girlfriend, 25, sustained a deep cut on her neck, while her 43-year-old aunt sustained a cut on the head from the machete. Other victims include two boys, aged 10 and 11. One of the boys reported shoulder pain while the other suffered severe head injuries.

Baatweng stated that the girlfriend and her 11-year-old relative were referred to NRH where they are still receiving treatment. Before yesterday's tragic outcome, the Tatitown police boss said that there was a prior incident at the weekend in which they received a report from the deceased's girlfriend that her soldier boyfriend threatened to kill her.

Baatweng said the victim indicated that her 31-year-old boyfriend beat her, her elder sister, 31, and her uncle, 38, with a knobkerrie on Saturday, leading to his arrest on the same day. From this attack, the 25-year-old sustained injuries on the forehead and right elbow, her elder sister had a cut on her body, and her 38-year-old uncle was injured on his right buttock.

He said that the suspect fled but was later arrested on the same day at Area W BDF base camp and taken to a holding cell where he spent the weekend before his release on Monday. Baatweng dismissed allegations that the deceased soldier had several cases of threat-to-kill levelled against him. He said that the deceased man and his girlfriend have been dating for a year and the duo had never reported any other case against either one or the other to the police before Saturday's incident.