A 22-year-old woman accused of burning a house to ashes that housed her then-boyfriend and police officer has pleaded "not guilty".
The accused, Bontle Ratladi appeared before the Mogoditshane Magistrate’s Court last week facing a single arson charge, a crime she is alleged to have committed early this year. According to her charge sheet, she is alleged to have "on or about February 24, 2024, at or near Mogoditshane, wilfully and unlawfully set fire to a police house number MLC ** belonging to Botswana Government".
It's alleged that the jilted girlfriend caught her police officer boyfriend cheating on her and she torched the police house which has been estimated to be valued close to half a million. The prosecutor told Chief Magistrate Gofaone Morweng that the police house is worth P482,220. Last Thursday the petite young woman pleaded not guilty. The State also confirmed completing its investigations and stands ready to proceed for trial. Morweng set trial dates for November 5 and 6 as the case continues.
