Man gets four death sentences
Lebogang Mosikare | Thursday July 15, 2021 17:09
Mooketsi Mothogo, 38, was found guilty of murdering Boemo Otukile,Kgakololo Ramontsho, Kgotso Ramontso and Tshepang Dikgang after setting fire to a hut they were sleeping in on December 13, 2015, at Dikgokong cattlepost near Selebi-Phikwe.
Some of the victims died on the same day after Mothogo burnt their hut while others later succumbed to burn injuries due to multiple organ failure.
Justice Bengbame Sechele also found Mothogo guilty of attempting to murder his ex-girlfriend, Segametsi Phillemon, then 46, who was also in the hut that Mothogo burnt with a flammable substance.
Lastly, the judge also returned a guilty verdict for the arson charge that Mothogo was facing.
After making a determination that there were no exceptional extenuating circumstances that could reduce Mothogo’s blame worthiness, Justice Sechele said: “The accused shall be hanged by the neck until he dies for each of the murder charges. The accused is also sentenced to 10 years in jail for attempting to murder Phillemon and five years in jail for arson.”
The judge added: “ All these sentences shall run concurrently. The accused is advised of his right to appeal both his convictions and sentences at the Court of Appeal within six weeks from now.”
When passing a ruling on extenuating circumstances, Sechele agreed with the state that no exceptional extenuating circumstances existed in the matters adding that Mothogo’s actions were in fact aggravating in nature.
Sechele said it was common cause that Mothogo had planned to harm or kill the people who were inside the hut because before he burnt it, he secured its door from outside with a wire in order to make sure that all people who were inside it, especially children, would not escape.
The judge also dismissed the notion that Mothogo was relatively young (32) when he committed the offences-a factor that could have clouded his mind.
On the contrary, Sechele said at the age of 32, Mothogo was no longer a minor who could have been influenced by youthfulness to commit the offences.
He was instead, Sechele added, an adult who held the position of farm manager at one Goitsemang’s farm.
Sechele added: “The defence submitted that the accused was distressed by the break up of his relationship with Phillemon two years earlier. On the contrary, I find out that two years was an ample period that the accused could have used to reflect on that fact and accept his fate. It is common cause that since the accused was at one point in love with Phillemon, he knew that Phillemon was sharing her bedroom with her young relatives.”
However, despite being aware of that, the accused went on to douse the hut with a flammable substance and even secured its door with a wire to make sure that anyone who was inside would not escape after it caught fire, Sechele said.
Although it is common cause that the accused had love problems with Phillemon, Sechele noted, he could have seriously reflected on the consequences of his actions before he torched the hut since he knew that Phillemon was sleeping with children in the hut.
“The killing of four innocent children who were in the hut had nothing to do with problems that the accused and Phillemon were having. The defence also submitted that the accused was intoxicated when he committed the offences. No evidence was however, brought before court to show that he indeed was intoxicated. The accused used intoxication as an alibi to escape the possible drastic consequences of his actions,” said Sechele.
After Sechele ruled that there were no extenuating factors that could have influenced Mothogo to commit the offences, a seemingly remorseless Mothogo elected not to mitigate in relation to the offences of attempted murder and arson before his sentences were passed.