Tears, Prayers As Murder Accused Acquitted
Lebogang Mosikare | Monday July 6, 2020 16:34
The accused, Mokganedi Galeboe was alleged to have murdered Segomotso Galeboe (nee Kgwebe) at Block 5 in 2016 following a heated argument in their marital home.
Mokganedi is the Deputy Technical Officer at the Central Transport Organisation (CTO) while Segomotso worked at Letshego as an Information Technology Technician.
After Justice Lot Moroka returned a verdict of ‘not guilty’ against the accused because of insufficient evidence, Mokganedi knelt down in the dock and prayed briefly.
One of Mokganedi’s relatives followed suit outside court and could be heard saying “God is great” after the verdict.
But there was a different scene outside the court where Segomotso’s relatives broke into tears following Mokganedi’s acquittal.
Mokganedi did not dispute that he killed Segomotso, but said he did so in ‘self-defence’ after she attacked and throttled him in their bedroom.
According to evidence presented in court, Mokganedi suspected that his wife was cheating on him after he discovered some shoeprints in front of their house when he returned from work.
He asked Segomotso to whom the shoeprints belonged. The deceased reportedly said they could have belonged to some men who were carrying out construction work in the yard.
“No other evidence was presented before court about who started the throttling. All we know is that the throttling of the deceased caused her death. The court has only what the accused said. The accused bears no responsibility to prove his innocence. That onus lies with the prosecution. I have reflected deeply on the evidence that was placed before court and came to the conclusion that there was insufficient evidence to find the accused guilty,” Moroka said.
“There is no direct or indirect evidence to make a determination that the accused willfully caused the death of his wife other than what he said. The evidence placed before court is that there is suspicion that the accused caused the death of his wife. Evidence placed before court is insufficient to point the accused as the one who caused the death of his wife.”
“In the circumstances, I can’t return a verdict of guilty against the accused. The prosecution failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the accused willfully murdered his wife. I find the accused not guilty of murder. He is acquitted and discharged of murder,” Moroka said.
Tension was high prior to Segomotso’s burial that year. A few days after her death, the two families were locked in a bitter battle over where she was supposed to be buried.
The fight ended up at the Francistown High Court. The Galeboe family wanted the court to rule that Segomotso be buried at Serowe where her husband comes from.
The court, however, ruled that the deceased should be buried at Lecheng where she hailed from so that her family could find closure.