Murder charges provisionally withdrawn against minor

Lindiwe Mozola | Wednesday August 9, 2017 16:58

 

According to the state prosecutor inspector Ditsapelo Emmanuel the case record was still being typed and this has been the status quo since May 5, 2017 up to date. In his response the magistrate accused the police of taking the accused’s liberty and rights lightly.

He said: “This murder case of a 15-year-old student will be a one-year-old today since the first mention. When is it going to be committed to the High Court? As young as he is, he has a legal cloud hanging over his head and you on the other hand are taking this lightly hence stalling everything. You cannot seriously tell me that it takes three months to type a case”.

Morwaeng further stated that it was worse since the accused is a student who will be seating for his Form three final examinations this year.

He said he is forced to withdraw the matter and when the prosecution is ready to proceed with the case, it will be reinstated. He wondered how the long it will take to dispose of the matter if typing a report cannot be done in three months.

When passing the application to withdraw the matter the magistrate took into account that the accused will soon write his final exams.

“This matter as indicated by the court record is being typed and this has been the case for the past three months which I cannot entertain. As per Criminal and Evidence Act Section 150 (4), the accused shall be provisionally discharged and will be reinstated once the prosecution is ready to proceed.”

The accused, who is a student at Mokgalo Junior Secondary School in Lecheng, is alleged to have murdered another student Andrew Boitumelo on August 18, 2016.

On another different matter, Morwaeng threatened to discharge the murder accused who has been in custody for the past two years with no progress in his case.

He said: “The accused has been in custody since 2015, surely you cannot be having someone mentioning for two cases. This is just not right; you are messing with other people’s lives. What about his rights and presumption of his innocence?

“Had I been the presiding magistrate over this case which is before Chief Magistrate Rebecca Motsamai, I would have discharged the accused. When was the last time murder cases in this court committed to High Court? You need to be serious about other people’s lives; prison is not a pleasant place”.

Zimbabwean Decent Moyo (20) is accused of murdering Banabotlhe Khonou at Maokatumo village in Tswapong.