Young Woman Murdered At Desert Race
Pini Bothoko | Monday June 25, 2018 19:02
The gruesome incident is just the latest case in acts of violence against women, which continue unabated in the country. Months ago, the police also discovered a half naked woman’s body dumped in a dense bush at Ledumadumane, Mogoditshane.
It is suspected that the young woman might have been raped and killed, but investigations into the matter are still ongoing. The Monitor is in possession of gruesome images of the latest incident, which show the young woman’s naked body with her legs stretched open in the bush.
According to Jwaneng Police Station Commander, Superintendent Thuso Basuti, the report came in early yesterday from a passerby who was walking along the streets of Unit 2 location and discovered the young woman’s naked body in the bush.
“We suspect that she might have been killed on Saturday night because her body was discovered still in good condition.
“We found her naked and investigations to establish what really transpired are ongoing. Currently, I do not have much information to share with you because the case is still fresh. After receiving the report, we rushed to the scene, took her to the hospital where the doctors confirmed her dead on arrival,” he said.
Asked if the woman was sexually violated or not, Basuti said it was still too early to dismiss the possibility, as the case was fresh and investigations were ongoing.
“We are yet to carry out an autopsy and run other tests to establish if she was sexually assaulted or not. No suspect(s) have been arrested but investigations are ongoing to arrest the culprit(s),” he said.
Basuti said they have failed to identify any footsteps at the scene because she was left in a dense bush. “We currently do not know who she is, hence we are pleading with members of the community to come and identify her body at Jwaneng Mine Hospital. We suspect that she might be aged 20 or 21,” he said.
Basupi said the only sad news they recorded was of the murder case itself whilst other incidents were the usual minor reports of theft, common nuisance and drunk driving.
“We received numerous reports of theft where people’s handbags, money and cellphones were snatched. The competition attracts multitudes of people and some of them come with the intention to steal, not to watch the competition (Desert Race). We arrested young lads and charged them for idling after we suspected that they had motives to steal,” he said.
Basuti expressed concern over excessive speeding and driving amongst Batswana, stating that it appears that most of the people think that entertainment is about drinking and driving.
“Even though we did not record major accidents, we have observed that a majority of drivers enjoy driving whilst drinking alcohol. They were travelling with cooler boxes full of alcohol.
“This is not a good thing. We encourage people to travel until they reach their destinations and then start to drink when they have arrived because drinking and driving expose them to danger,” he said.