Murder convicted Ntwaagae appeals for acquittal
Mpho Mokwape | Friday January 16, 2015 15:02
Ntwaagae submitted through her attorney Kgosiitsile Ngakaagae that the High Court had erred in convicting her as it had failed to appreciate that her action was purely in self-defence.
“Our argument will be on the basis that the state failed in proving their case and we submit that the self-defence was not sufficiently disclosed,” he said.
Ngakaagae said it is critical that the court should note that Ntwaagae was defending herself in a situation where she mostly likely would have been the deceased had she not vigorously defended herself.
He submitted that it was not immediately possible for his client to realise that the object in her hand was an axe owing to the fact that it was semi-dark in the room at the time.
“There was no evidence that she knew what she was using was an axe, and the reason that she went for the part that hurts the most was purely so she can free herself from a life threatening situation as she was being strangled by the deceased,” he said.
Ngakaagae further said it is only right that his client be acquitted and discharged because the prosecution failed to provide reasonable doubt that Ntwaagae intended to harm or even kill her boyfriend.
The state represented by Pascal Mhandu however countered Ntwaagae’s submissions by saying it was a pre-meditated murder.
Mhandu argued that the fact that Ntwaagae had a fight with the deceased’s other girlfriend then later followed the deceased was a clear indication that she was in for a fight.
“Ntwaagae was the one who was the aggressor in the case. She fought with the other girlfriend then forced her way into the deceased’s house despite being told several times to leave and go home,” he said.
He submitted that there wasn’t any evidence to show that she sustained injuries as a result of being strangled, as she claimed. Mhandu added that there wasn’t even any need for the use of excessive force.
“No person who has been strangled to a point that she was unconscious for some time, would have the strength to hit someone eleven times especially on the head,” he said.
Mhandu further countered the argument that Ntwaagae did not know the object at hand as it was semi dark saying that it was a lie.
He said Ntwaagae said in her sworn statement that the light in room was clear because the television was on. “To some degree there was light in the room, so she was sure of what she was holding and what she clearly wanted to do. The point that she did not know is a total lie,” he submitted.
Meanwhile in 2011 Lobatse High Court Judge, Onkemetse Tshosa, convicted Ntwaagae of murder.
At the time, the State charged that she murdered her boyfriend with an axe after an altercation in 2009.
Ntwaagae, who used to waitress at O’Hagans Pub in Game City, Gaborone alleged that on that fateful day, she had a misunderstanding with the her deceased boyfriend, Pule Letota, and his other girlfriend after which she hacked him to death with an axe.
Judgment has been reserved for February 5, 2015.