Angry Gakuto Mob Sets 20-Room House On Fire
Pini Bothoko | Monday October 5, 2020 17:20
The tragedy that occurred at noon left residents of the tiny village of Gakuto reeling in shock.
The community is reportedly fed up with the family’s son who they claim is aware of various theft incidents where he has been implicated and still gotten away with the offences.
In the wake of what transpired The Monitor team visited the family and did not struggle to locate the Enose family home. The family is currently the talk of the village.
Questioning the villagers over what really happened they all claimed not to know who set the Enoses’ house on fire.
Reached for an interview, Lekgotla Enose, a sangoma by profession and spouse, Thinah Marumo-Enose, the duo narrated their plight stating they find no irony in the arson.
The couple revealed that an angry mob of community members have tormented them on numerous occasions by visiting their home and accusing their son of terrorising the community with alleged theft.
Narrating the events, Lekgotla said it was on August 28, 2020 when an angry mob of 45 community members came to his yard accusing his son of having stolen car batteries following the theft incidents in the village. Lekgotla said he disregarded their claims as his son had been visiting Francistown the same weekend in the company of his mother.
“I told them that even though my son might be a thief as they allege he was that weekend away with his mother, as they had travelled to Francistown.
They were adamant that my son stole those batteries and accused me of protecting him. I tried to show them their COVID-19 movement permits, but they still refused to hear me out,” he said.
He stated that on the second call, the mob returned in the company of police officers accusing his son of breaking into a pre-school and stealing a phone and money amounting to P7,000.
Lekgotla stated that the angry mob continued to threaten him because the entire village and the leadership said they were fed up with his son’s antics.
For her part, Marumo-Enose added they were not being entirely dismissive of the residents’ concerns and claims, but rather they advised them to report the matter to the police. “Ee ngwana o kgona go senya koo resa itse rele batsadi ba gagwe reka se ganetse, mme go tshuba ntlo ya rona ke tiro e e setlhogo. Ntlo e yame, gase ya ga ngwanake Sugara. I used money amounting to over a million pula to build this house. It is a 20-room house with 10 bedrooms. The police should arrest the culprits, I want them to pay me back,” Marumo-Enose said.
She added that on September 27 the mob visited them and accused their son of terrorising the community. Marumo-Enose said the mob told them that it had taken a decision to burn their house in retaliation of their son’s alleged thieving ways.
“We tried to reason with them, but our pleas fell on deaf ears. On September 28, around 2am we were woken by a group of people with the cluster policing members levelling similar accusations and threatening to burn the house,” she narrated.
“The following day I received a phone call from an unknown person alerting me of the community’s plot to burn my house to ashes and I went to report the matter at the Mogoditshane Police Station, but the police failed to assist me saying I should bring my son to the station.”Marumo-Enose accused the police of failing her, saying if only had they stepped in to caution the residents the mob would have not burnt her house.“I had a new double door fridge that I had recently bought that was still sealed and cash amounting to P150, 000 that also burnt to ashes. It was on Independence Day during the day around noon when I was watching television with my grandson when a boy came running to alert me that one end of my house was on fire.
We tried to put it off, but it was too late because it seems like someone had poured petrol through the window,” she added.
Mogoditshane Police Station commander, superintendent Russ Letsebe confirmed the arson case is under investigation.
“Police had visited the scene and confirmed that a big house has burnt to ashes. We do not know what caused the fire, but we are investigating to establish the cause of the fire,” he said. The station chief said they have not arrested anyone in relation to the fire.
Letsebe said the victims have not pointed anyone out as the suspect(s), after being asked to comment on claims that some of the accused persons were cluster-policing members. He also declined to comment further when asked if they were investigating any theft cases implicating the victims’ son.