Abortion lands three in court

GALE NGAKANE and
SESUPO RANTSIMAKO
Correspondents | Wednesday February 24, 2010 00:00

 

The trio, Onkabetse Boitumelo, Chandapiwa Badiyi and Koketso Nyambe, all from Tati Siding, are facing a charge of procuring abortion after allegedly helping Joyce Tshekedi from Tutume to abort. Tshekedi, 30, who turned state witness, was giving her evidence before Principal Magistrate Peggy Madandume.

In her evidence before court, she said she was directed to the trio's home in Tati Siding, where Boitumelo inserted a stick of a mokhure plant into her private parts to induce delivery. 'I was in pains and under stress. That is why these people talked me into committing the abortion. Now I have lost everything, my baby and the man who was to marry me,' she said.

Another witness in the case, 53 year old Mmankgoa Kaisara, a cleaner at Home and Office Maintenance, said when she knocked off from her place of work she was called to the home of Abraham Sebolao where she was told a new born baby had been thrown into a pit latrine. 'I could see a plastic bag at the bottom of the toilet and the police asked for permission from the owner of the yard to break it down. They retrieved the foetus which was already dead,' she said. When it was time to cross-examine Tshekedi, Boitumelo ploughed in with accusations that the former knew nothing about her, but she was directed to ask questions by a court official.

'How did you know that I was a doctor who performed abortions on people?' she said after rephrasing her accusation. 'I did not know you. I heard from Chandapiwa (Badiyi) and you also told me that you could do so. You even told me it was your occupation,' was the response from Tshekedi. When Boitumelo tried veering from the line of questioning and was told once again to ask questions, she stood mouth agape before saying she had no more questions.

As for Badiyi, her question was whether Tshekedi was alone in the house when she inserted the mokhure stick to which she responded in the affirmative. But she said both Boitumelo and Badiyi took the baby, which was in a plastic bucket, to the pit latrine and then they came back and informed Badiyi that they had indeed accomplished their mission, thrown the baby into the pit. Tshekedi said she did not come to Tati Siding with the intention of committing abortion, but was talked into doing so by the trio as she was in a dilemma.

She said she was about to be married and discovered that she was carrying a baby that did not belong to the man who was marrying her.The case continues tomorrow when the state will call four more witnesses.