Letlhakane: A village gripped by atrocities
Pini Bothoko | Monday May 27, 2024 09:21
Recently, Letlhakane recorded five rape cases in just one week, something that questions the safety and security of women and girls. Incidents of violent crimes in Letlhakane have left the womenfolk living in constant fear of being sexually molested by lustful rapists. Their fear is confirmed by the alarming cases as the village has been the hub of social ills such as rape, defilement and murder, amongst others, for years.
The nerve-wreaking trend has become a norm despite several interventions by the police and other stakeholders to nip the rape incidents in the bud. Letlhakane, a mining town, is overwhelmed by these cases as they continue to register cases of rape, murder and defilement. During the 50th Botswana Police Senior Officers annual conference that was held earlier this year, the police revealed that murder cases have increased by four percent from last year. For years, the country has been battling with escalating cases of defilement that even spiralled out of control during the lockdown periods as some family members demonstrated behaviours that their family were not aware of. As the numbers reduced in some areas, they continued to escalate in Letlhakane with two to three cases recorded weekly.
In an effort to curb this scourge, government has last year September increased penalties against sexual offences, but the increase in penalties does not seem to be a deterrent as cases continue happen unabated, anyway. Besides being boosted by mines in the outskirts of Letlhakane with a population of more than 26, 000 people, it remains a rural setting surrounded by cattle posts, whose herdsmen are usually the perpetrators of these sexual offences. Women in Letlhakane are attacked whilst in their sleep and raped, some are attacked whilst walking alone from the shebeens in the cattle posts and lands in the outskirts of this village and raped.
Couples are always involved in petty fights that always lead to murder cases. The police have in the past highlighted that most of the perpetrators of rape, defilement and murder in the area were illiterate with some being school dropouts who did not care about the rule of law especially gender-based Violence (GBV) related issues. The police have in the past intensified their public education through community policing forums calling for other stakeholders to join forces to address this menace but all those efforts continue to fall into deaf ears. Rapists in Letlhakane are so cruel that in one of the recent cases, a woman was raped and killed in an incident that sent a chill down the spines of many.
Back in 2022 the village used to have a rapist who would pounce on women kitted in their sleeping gowns or boxer shorts in possession of condoms. The 22-year-old serial rapist was arrested and charged with eight counts of rape and robbery. Since then, the numbers have reduced even though they remain a headache as Letlhakane used to register 15 rape cases per month. Additionally, the police have in the past revealed that murder cases were a concern in the area especially in villages and cattle posts in the outskirts of Letlhakane. Most of the victims and perpetrators being herdsmen who mostly are Zimbabwean nationals with a handful of Batswana also forming part of the statistics. Lethakane Police Station Commander, Superintendent Michael Maphephu, expressed concern about murders involving cohabiting partners pleading with individuals to seek counselling when facing relationship issues. He noted that men often wait until situations escalate significantly due to societal pressure to appear strong and resilient. Recently, Mmegi quizzed Letlhakane Kgosi Baruntshi Kegapetswe, about criminality and violence in his village.
He revealed that their efforts with the help of the police continue to be unsuccessful and they do not know what could be the problem as they continue to register the cases at a high rate. “We do not know if the influx of people in the area who look for greener pastures could have escalated the problem or not. The two recent cases where a father and a village leader are alleged to have sexually assaulted minors left the whole village in shock even though they are still regarded as allegations. The reports are embarrassing and have left us disappointed.
This does not reflect us well as the village,” he said then. Kgosi Kegapetswe had further clarified that most cases are classified as date rape as the perpetrators are often casual friends, or individuals who they are familiar with and would have spent the night together drinking alcohol and late the woman would open a rape case whilst the perpetrators would claim to have obtained consent from the victims and even accuse them of extortion. He added that abuse of alcohol and drugs also contribute to the rise in rape and defilement cases in the area as the inhabitants have the habit of abusing alcohol because the area has lots of entertainment joints and shebeens that even operate beyond stipulated hours. Kgosi Kegapetswe had also stated that some perpetrators would later blame the use of drugs to have contributed to their acts as they would have on the fateful night spent time drinking alcohol at shebeens.
“They would then later sexually assault each other on the way home or after arriving at home. Some women are attacked and raped late at night while walking alone from shebeens by the people they had spent the night with or strangers they meet on the way. These usually occur at the cattle posts,” he said.