'I was forced into marriage'

Thipe was responding to questions during cross-examination by Kgosi Mothusi Tsetse of Otse, who was presiding over a case in which her three children have dragged her before the court. They were seeking the court to interdict her from carrying out any transaction with regard to a house that belonged to their parents - Thipe and their late father. The house has been vacant since their father's death in 2007.

Thipe said that she got married prematurely and her then husband forced her to drink traditional medicine to be able to bear the children. "I got married even before I could menstruate. My husband then forced me to drink traditional medicine to bear him children," she said.