Alleged student killers granted bail
Lebogang Mosikare | Wednesday August 5, 2015 16:49
The fourth-year University of Botswana (UB) student, Misani Machola and Leabua Lekorwe from Ba Isago University are jointly charged with Thabo Machola and Mbiganyi Macha for the alleged deadly assault on Tsholofelo Madziba. Police say the assault, which involved a knife, happened in Block 3 on June 16.
The quartet is also charged with robbing Madziba of P449 and also making off with a cellphone worth P500 belonging to Ookeditse Nlanda, in a separate incident on the same day, after the murder.
Nlanda was seriously injured in the assault after her assailants struck her with a hammer on the head. She was recently released from Nyangabgwe Referral Hospital. Attorneys Mishingo Jeremia and Kesegofetse Molosiwa representing Lekorwe and Misani Machola respectively, successfully applied for their clients to be given bail after the state initially opposed the application. The other two accused persons are representing themselves.
Earlier in the bail hearing, prosecutor Master Seleka told the court that investigations into the matter are ongoing, adding that the matter has been sent to the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for assessment.
However, Jeremia said the state did not have concrete reasons for remanding his client any further in custody.
“The record will show that on June 30, the prosecution told the court that the investigating officer was at his home village attending to personal matters. The state has therefore failed to state solid grounds why the accused should be further remanded in custody,” said Jeremia.
“My client is a student at Ba Isago University who has no previous brushes with the law.”
For his part, Molosiwa said that it was a principle of the law that defendants should be presumed innocent before being proven otherwise by the courts of law
He said the prosecution had not proved to the court that the accused would abscond from trial if granted bail.
“My client is a student at the UB and will be greatly prejudiced in his academics (if remanded in custody) since he will miss the registration process that is currently ongoing at the institution,” Molosiwa said. “We need to mention that he has been cooperating with investigating officers and also submits that he should be admitted to bail pending trial.”
After a brief adjournment, the investigating officer, Detective Sergeant Boitshwarelo Mokgweetsi surprised the court by saying the state was not opposed to the accused being granted conditional bail.
Principal Magistrate, Sijabuliso Siziba granted the four bail on condition that they report to a police station every Monday and also honour all court dates. The matter will continue on December 9 for mention.