16 Jan 2018

Seronga Police are investigating a murder-suicide incident where a 32-year-old man allegedly murdered a 24-year-old woman and later committed suicide.

Officer commanding, senior superintendent Peter Gochela confirmed the incident in an interview noting that it took place at Sekhondonboro in the Okavango district over the weekend.

He explained that the two were in a relationship and prior to the sad incident, it was reported that they had a misunderstanding as the man accused his girlfriend for cheating.

On Sunday morning, the man was found hanging from a tree in the nearby field some few kilometres from their homestead while the girlfriend was lying on the ground under the tree.

Senior Superintendent Gochela said they suspect that the man might have strangled the girlfriend to death and hanged himself adding that a suicidal note was found in his trousers' pocket.

He said the matter was reported by one of the relatives to the woman.

However, the police chief observed that last year, they had seen a decline in murder incidents as compared to 2016.

He said last year, they recorded 19 incidents as compared to 32 in 2016.

Still in Okavango District, a 11-year-old boy of Magopa settlement in the outskirt of Qangwa village was found dead in the bush by a search team comprising police and the community on Jaunuary 11.

According to Senior Superintendent Gochela, the deceased’s body was found in a decomposed state as he was reported missing on January 6 and since then the search had been on going with assistance of the police helicopter.

It is reported that the deceased left home with his mother to gather wild fruits (moretlwa) in the bush and while the mother was busy concentrating on fetching the wild fruits, he disappeared.

He said the mother made efforts to trace her son but was frustrated and scared by elephants hence she sought police assistance. ENDS