Missing Boy Family Unamused By Parliament Response
Koketso Kgoboge | Monday August 17, 2020 16:19
Ernest Obopile, a Standard Seven pupil at Kediretswe Primary School, was last seen on May 5, 2019 at the mercy of two men, a Motswana and a Zimbabwean illegal immigrant. The duo accused the boy of stealing their puppies and had allegedly tortured him.
A year later, the family was still hoping the boy would return. The Zimbabwean is in custody while his co-accused is on bail. The family members of the victim are living in distress.
Obopile’s elder brother, Kenneth Reasentse, said they wish to find the boy or his remains if he was dead so they can give him a proper burial.
Reasentse said the local police had not been helpful and the answers they heard from Parliament regarding the child, lacked truthfulness and exacerbated their misery and pain.
In a recent Parliament question, Ramogapi had asked the Minister of Defence, Justice and Security (MDJF) if he was aware of the missing child at Serorome ward. Ramogapi wanted to know why members of the public were not requested to assist in search for the child, as had been the norm.
The MP asked why the matter was not accorded the same respect like similar cases, citing the infamous Segametsi Mogomotsi case in Mochudi as an example.
Ramogapi also wanted to know whether the Minister was aware that parents of the missing child felt they were being treated differently because of their lower social status in society.
In his response, assistant minister in the MDJF Meshack Mthimkhulu told Parliament he was unaware the family was treated indifferently because of their social status.
He said the police had kept the family updated on the developments of the matter at the High Court. Mthimkhulu also told Parliament that a search party of over 200 people was dispatched to try and find the boy. He said the team included the police, cluster police, community members and some family members.
“It is important to note that the two men that were last seen with this boy are facing a murder charge. This matter is before the Francistown High Court, and the trial date has not been confirmed,” the assistant minister told Parliament.
However, Reasentse charged that contrary to the assistant minister’s assertions, the local police had given them a cold shoulder from the onset. He said while the matter was fresh, the police displayed little interest and the same still prevails.
“At the beginning, they asked us to assist in the investigations, while we did and handed them the leads they shoved them under the carpet. They never come to us to inform us of anything as we heard unless we approach them,” Reasentse said disappointedly.
He said it had been painful for his siblings and uncles to see the other suspect roaming the streets. “He stays in the same location as us, and it is very difficult mingling with him when we know he has the lead to where my brother is. Every time we see him, the pain cuts very deep.”
“All we ask is for them to tell us where our sibling is. If he was deceased we want to bury him so that he can rest and we could find peace. It is hard to live not knowing where he is. Every word about him pains us.”
In his narrative of what transpired on the events leading to Obopile’s disappearance on Sunday of May 5, 2019, Reasentse said his brother was out with four of his friends. They went to masimo near Morupule to assist with branding of goats.
Upon returning, the two suspects in question took the five boys to Palapye Swallows Football Grounds where they interrogated them about the puppies and beat them.
The other four boys managed to escape, and the two men held onto Obopile. He led them to his aunt’s house at Extension Seven. “He might have told them he kept the dogs there, hoping they would let go of him or maybe he could escape.”
The aunt told them there were no dogs, and they brought him home around eight in the evening where Reasentse was with his sister. He said at the time he was inside the house.
“My sister told me Ernest was beaten and pleaded with her to come along because the men were threatening to kill him. She was also scared, and when she rushed to call me from the house, the car drove off.”
Reasentse said he called his uncle, and they went on a search for his brother. Their first stop was Obopile’s friends, who led them to the house where the alleged theft of puppies occurred. Their attempts to find the boy and the two men that night were futile.
The next morning they went back to the same house and still, the men and their brother were not there. Around noon, the two men showed up at their house and asked for Obopile.
“We told them they should not be asking for him from us because we have been looking for them to bring the boy back,” Reasentse recalled.
He said the two men claimed Obopile took them to masimo where he told them they kept the puppies and when they asked him to open the gate leading to the area, he took the cover of the darkness since it was night-time and fled.
“I told them if that was the case, we should involve the police, but when I took the phone to call the police they got inside the car and drove off again.”
He said they proceeded to the police station to report the matter, but suspects were not followed immediately. The visibly anxious Reasentse said the duo only got arrested when the issue started becoming a village topic. “It hurts when we hear the same people that treated us badly and let the child disappear until today when our search is growing hopeless, were there for us. They are still not helping even to date,” Reasentse charged emotionally.