Francistown crimes that shook the nation
Lesedi Mkhutshwa | Friday December 23, 2016 13:14
One such case that will remain in many people's mind is that Gobuamang Ntsuape, who, after being jilted by his former lover, committed a series of crimes that claimed the lives of three people.
For his alleged wicked actions, Ntsuape, 30, in one incident ended up being charged with one count of murder, four counts of threat to kill, one count of arson and one count of causing damage to property.
All the victims of Ntsuape's alleged criminal behaviour are members of his former girlfriend's family.
He allegedly committed all these offences on September 13 at the residence of his former girlfriend and mother of his child at Block 9 location.
As if that was not enough, Ntsuape shocked the nation and the police fraternity on December 1, when he allegedly wrestled for the steering wheel of a Toyota Quantum with the driver that was used to transport prison inmates back to prison from court.
The car ended up swerving out of the road before overturning several times, instantly killing a special constable and an on-remand inmate.
Other police officers and inmates who were aboard the car sustained injuries of varying degrees.
After that, Ntsuape was hauled before court charged with two additional counts of manslaughter and one count of disabling a police officer to commit a car accident.
Ntsuape allegedly committed the offences on the very same day that he was denied bail by magistrate Kaveri Kapeko.
Kapeko denied Ntsuape bail basing his reasons on the findings of a psychiatric report, which described Ntsuape as having anger management problems and being suicidal.
In another gruesome incident that shocked residents of the tiny village of Natale and the nation, a 44-year-old man appeared in court in July for allegedly killing his mother.
Dibebe Ngele allegedly tied his 63-year-old mother Thandiwe Mbulawa to the back of his car and dragged her for about a kilometre.
On discovering that his mother was still alive, police said that then Dibebe took out an axe and finished her off.
He later handed himself to police officers at Tatitown police station and allegedly told the police that his mother was bewitching him.
The courts here were also inundated with cases of gender-based violence especially of rape whereby some stepparents were hauled before the courts to face allegations of raping their stepdaughters.
In some of the cases, two soldiers based at the Botswana Defence Force camp at Area S were arraigned in court to face allegations of raping their stepchildren.
One of them has already being convicted of the offence and is awaiting sentence while another’s trial continues next year February.
Last week, a 35-year-old man of Shashemooke village was convicted by Senior Magistrate Thebeetsile Mulalu of having raped his then 12-year-old live-in partner’s daughter during a date unknown to the prosecution in July last year at Shashemooke.