26 Jun 2019

A 17-year- old Shakawe Senior Secondary School student is in police custody in connection with a rape incident which took place at the school over the weekend.

Acting officer commanding Senior Superintendent, Samuel Kgomo confirmed the incident in an interview revealing that they received a report on Sunday afternoon that an 18-year-old girl had been raped by his school mate.

The victim and the suspect are boarding students at the school.

Senior Superintendent Kgomo said the victim was also rushed to the doctor for examination.

Police are also investigating another rape incident in which a 30-year- old woman of Botlhatlogo village was raped by a 34-year-old man.

Narrating her ordeal, Senior Superintendent Kgomo said the suspect was reported to be the ex-boyfriend of the victim and he allegedly came to her house on Sunday night where he raped her.

He said they managed to arrest the suspect who is assisting them in investigations.

In Maun, police reported that a 44-year-old businessman was robbed P36 000 at old mall on Saturday.

It was reported that the money was kept in the boot of his vehicle, which he had parked by the mall to buy a drink. The culprits broke into the car and disappeared with the money.

Senior Superintendent Kgomo said the victim explained that he had cashed the money from the bank with an intention to pay his workers.

He appealed to the business community to be vigilant when they cash money and stop carrying large sums of money as the thieves target them.

He advised them to always go straight to their destinations after cashing money and keep it safely.

Meanwhile, Maun police will host a youth workshop targeting young drivers and the main objective of the event is to discuss and come up with  ideas on what can be done to reduce road accidents.

Senior Superintendent Kgomo said statistics had indicated that young people were mostly affected in road mishaps and they believed the workshop dubbed

“Young drivers outreach” would be ideal to interact with young people and map a wayforward.

The workshop scheduled for July 5, at Maun Lodge is expected to attract 300 young people and Divisional Commander Senior Assistant Commissioner Cynthia Setilo is expected to perform the official opening.

Research has shown that the combination of immaturity and inexperience puts younger drivers at high risk.

Their inexperience means they have less ability to spot hazards and their age means they are likely to take risks. In District No.5 which covers Maun and surrounding areas, it was recently reported that a total of 32 deaths were registered in 2016 and 21 in 2017 while for the current year, the road national fatality figure stands at 365 of which the district accounts for 21 of the deaths.

It was reported that most of the accidents could had been avoided, had drivers exercised caution and obeyed road regulations.

The majority of the accidents were attributed to bad road-user attitude including speeding, driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs, dangerous overtaking, pedestrian misconduct and distracted driving especially through the use of cellphones. ENDS