MAHALAPYE: Phodiso Gaobatlelwe is a scrupulous keeper of records. In her early 60s, this light-skinned woman is stoic and reserved.When she is asked a question, she prefers to pull out copies from a plastic folder she has kept since late 2009. It contains copies of a death certificate, birth certificates, a funeral programme, clips from old Mmegi newspaper issues and even a copy of a medical card. This is all information to do with the case in which her son, Italy Keedirile Setlaampoloka, died while in police custody in July 2009.Then 29-years-old, Setlaampoloka was found dead at Senamakola farmlands near Gabane in what appears to be a staged suicide, a day after he was arrested and handed over to Mogoditshane Police Station as a suspect in an armed robbery case. Six police officers have been charged for his murder and have had their case committed to the High Court for trial where is seems to have fallen into a rut.
Gaobatlelwe preferred to meet the Mmegi team in the presence of other family elders. So it is that on a late Tuesday morning, they have gathered at the family home in Tshikinyega Ward here. They have assembled at this central point from Pilikwe, Mookane and Palapye to have a conversation they have doubtless had countless other times.With her is her older brother and Setlampoloka's uncle, James Ramaijane, outspoken and given to using historical references to illustrate his point, a paternal uncle Tetelano Gaobatlelwe and older sister Olebogeng Setlampoloka. None of the four present was in Gaborone when Setlaampoloka died. However, over the years, between them, they have managed to piece together a semblance of their son's last hours. It is a worn-out story, pieced together from conversations with those who saw him on his last day, those who discovered his body and from deciphering the vague information they have received from the police. According to the family, the last hours of Italy Setlaampoloka went like this:
