Jealous lover kills girlfriend

| Tuesday February 16, 2016 15:43

The victim, who was from Gootau village and residing at Distance in Selebi-Phikwe, was certified dead upon arrival at the hospital.

According to Selebi-Phikwe station commander superintendent Victor Nlebesi, on Friday afternoon at around 2pm the suspect reported the incident to the police officers stating that he had murdered his girlfriend whom he accused of cheating on him.

He said investigations into the matter are ongoing and thus he could not reveal the names of the deceased and the suspect.

He however, said the suspect used a sharp object to commit the crime.

Nlebesi murders have been on the rise in the mining town for the past few years, with many of the victims being women. “Selebi-Phikwe records high numbers of murders.

We have been recording an average of 10 murder cases or more every year since 2008 and most of the cases are related to jealous lovers,” he said.

He said last year when they received four cases of murder, they were hopeful that the numbers were sliding. 

“Last year cases dropped from the average 10 and we thought that people had understood the message we always spread concerning murder issues,” he said.

Nlebesi said thus far this year, three cases have been recorded, noting that this was a concern as the year has just begun. “Last year this time we only had one case of murder.

I am afraid this year we are going to record many cases of murder looking at the number we have already recorded,” he said.

Last year, police in Selebi Phikwe received 16 cases of threats to kill, with trends also indicating that this particular crime is on the rise in the town.

“We are always warning people to stop threatening to kill but they don’t seem to be taking this message into consideration,” he said.

“Men are also the main culprits in threat to kill cases.

“Messages and calls threatening to kill are mostly done by them.”

He said most murders were committed by jealous lovers who could not accept that their relationships had ended.

Nlebesi said it was a concern that men continued to kill their lovers despite the education freely provided by the police on the resolution of romantic troubles.

 “Sour relationships are the main cause of these cases.

We always urge men to avoid situations whereby when the relationship goes sour they threaten their lovers, but we still record high numbers,” he said.

The station commander said it is the responsibility of the community to join hands with the police and spread information regarding relationship issues.

He said parents should also provide counselling where necessary as most of the murders are caused by long running conflicts.