CAAB employee in court over stepdaughter's murder
Keneilwe Ramphopho | Monday January 22, 2018 18:00
The state alleges that Motlatsi Khoto, 44, an aircraft marshal at the Civil Aviation Authority of Botswana (CAAB) murdered Metlha Sibanda, 9, on January 17 at Marobela village.
The police exhumed the body of Sibanda at a river at Marobela on January 18 after Khoto showed them the spot where he had buried her, police sources close to the matter told The Monitor.
Khoto allegedly suffocated Sibanda following a love misunderstanding with her mother.
His plea was reserved after inspector Patrick Mapodisi told Magistrate Cele Lebakeng that investigations into the matter were at their initial stages.
The investigating officer in the case, detective assistant Superintendent Lawrence Nthoiwa opposed Khoto’s bail, as the investigators are yet to gather all evidence needed from him.
Nthoiwa seemed to have all but killed Khoto’s hopes of being granted bail when he revealed that the accused has a case of unlawful wounding that he occasioned on the deceased’s mother sometimes last year.
He said: “The accused was granted bail on the matter. We also have another case registered with Tatitown police in which the accused is alleged to have intimidated relatives of the deceased. He allegedly intimidated them because of the current matter.”
Nthoiwa said it has been clearly shown that the accused has a penchant of committing offences whilst on bail.
He added that they fear that if the accused is granted bail, he may go on to commit other serious offences like murder.
“I also still need time to wind up my investigations without any interference from the accused,” said Nthoiwa to murmurs of approval from the family, relatives and residents of Area W location who had thronged the public gallery.
Interestingly, Khoto and the deceased’s mother are relatives and come from Marobela.
Khoto vehemently denied that he has any unlawful wounding case registered at Tatitown police.
He said: “The case was dismissed by His Worship Molobe. The investigating officer is just on a mission to falsely incriminate me for an offence that I have not committed. O kuketsa motuka jaanong (He is now fuelling an already burning fire)”.
Magistrate Lebakeng berated Khoto for “being insensitive and dangerous to kids. “How will you react when someone killed your child? Do you have a child? Do you smoke or take drugs?”
In response to the magistrate, Khoto admitted having been pained by what he has done adding that the prosecution does not feel his pain.
“I am very much worried by what I have done. I do smoke Peter Stuyvesant, but I don’t take drugs. I am also on medication for depression,” said Khoto with a cracking voice.
The case was briefly adjourned for court officials to go and look for the unlawful wounding case file that the State alleged Khoto had committed.
When the case resumed, Magistrate Lebakeng told Khoto that the file of the unlawful wounding case clearly state that the case was withdrawn with liberty of the State to reinstate it.
She explained that the State was at liberty to reinstate the matter if the complainant produces a medical report showing that she had recovered from the stab wounds that Khoto had allegedly inflicted on her.
The police sources close to the investigations said the deceased’s mother was hospitalised for sometime at Nyangabgwe Referral Hospital after Khoto allegedly stabbed her with a sharp object on the neck.
At the end of Khoto’s arraignment, Lebakeng acceded to the prosecution request to deny Khoto bail.
“I cannot grant you bail because you may commit other offences while on bail… your rights end where the rights of other people begin. I also order that you shall undergo psychiatric evaluation. The police are ordered to make sure that you be assisted with your medication for depression that you said is finished. You deserve to be removed from society. You are now remanded in jail and shall appear in court on February 2 for another mention,” Lebakeng said.