Selaolo alleges police brutality
Sharon Mathala | Friday April 22, 2016 08:14
Thirty-two-year-old Gaofengwe Selaolo, who is the girlfriend to Clifford’s father, told the court she only confessed because the police were torturing her.
Selaolo said this yesterday before Magistrate Nthabiseng Merafhe-Tladi of the Broadhurst Magistrate Courts. She was initially charged with child abduction but she now faces a charge of murder.
The charge sheet was amended after the police said there was a change of circumstances.
Selaolo was arrested on March 13 after the police were informed that she was the last one to be seen with the boy. Last week Tuesday, police in the company of the accused, exhumed Clifford’s remains at a hill near Mankgodi.
Yesterday in court, the woman shocked the crammed courtroom when she informed the court that she is being severely beaten and abused by the police investigating officers.
She submitted: “The police are forcing me to say things that are not true. I want them to stop torturing me. I said some of the things because I was afraid of what they would do to me.”
In a soft voice Selaolo said: “Ba a nkhupetsa (they are suffocating me). I am afraid of them. I end up admitting to things which are not true.” Selaolo further told Merafhe-Tladi that she had reported the matter to the prison officials who advised her to tell the court.
The accused woman will spend more time in jail as investigations continue. The police said they will oppose her bail plea until they have concluded their investigations.
The items that were used when she allegedly committed the murder have not yet been found. The police said they also fear that she may temper with their investigations by interfering with potential witnesses.
Recounting the last day Clifford was alive in a previous interview, his father Louis Masimba said Clifford left for school that day as usual but never returned home. He said the matter was reported to the police the next day. A manhunt was launched for the missing boy. Two weeks later news broke out that the father’s girlfriend had been arrested in connection with the case.
A breakthrough came last week, almost a month after Clifford disappeared. Clifford’s decomposed body was exhumed at a hill near Mankgodi. He was buried the same day after the family was called in to identify his remains.
The case has since sparked countrywide interest evidenced by the large numbers of curious people who flocked the court yesterday morning.
More police officers had to be called to beef up security. Clad in a black leather jacket and blue jeans the accused woman received boos from the crowd who surrounded the police vehicle she was being transported in.
Selaolo has however said she will engage an attorney to represent her. Her next court mention is May 4.