Psychiatrist relives time with accused mental patient

FRANCISTOWN: A specialist psychiatrist at Sbrana Psychiatrist Hospital, Sreekanph Duva, has testified that murder accused, Dimpho Kabo was an in-and-out patient of Schizo-Affective and Mental Behavioural Multiple Disorder.

Kabo is accused of killing his maternal grandmother, Lefetogile Saulo on May 11, 2011.  Duva was giving evidence at the Francistown High Court as an expert witness before Justice Zibani Makhwade. He said the conditions resulted from abuse of substances like nicotine, cannabis, alcohol and mood disorders.  "Dimpho Kabo was being treated at Jubilee Psychiatric Ward as an out-patient and sometimes he got admitted and then discharged," he said.  He revealed that the accused was brought to Sbrana through a Magistrate Court order from Palapye on May 12, 2011, a day after allegedly killing his grandmother.  Davu was aware that Kabo has been arrested several times for being aggressive to his family members. He revealed that he had been admitted to the Nyangabgwe Psychiatric Wing against his consent, and at times with the authority of the District Commissioner of Palapye.  He said he conducted two examinations on the accused person and realised that at first he had elated moods, false perceptions, hallucinations, delusions and anger.

He said that on first assessment, the accused told him that he was angry with his family members for taking him to the clinic to get injections. Kabo allegedly also said that his family was jealous of him because of his talents.
Duva further told the court that it became clear that Kabo was deeply mentally unstable. "He said that he was the best boxer, martial arts expert and football player in Botswana. He also said that he had internet connection in his brain that connected him to world famous musicians in the United States of America," he said. The witness said he learnt that the accused once went to Canada to study law but did not graduate. He said that during conversations his intelligence was proportionate to his education level."He insisted that his family members were jealous of him because of these abilities," said Duva.

Editor's Comment
Closure as pain lingers

March 28 will go down as a day that Batswana will never forget because of the accident that occurred near Mmamatlakala in Limpopo, South Africa. The tragedy affected not only the grieving families but the nation at large. Batswana throughout the process stood behind the grieving families and the governments of Botswana and South Africa need much more than a pat on the back.Last Saturday was a day when family members said their last goodbyes to...

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