08 Dec 2022

Murder accused, Azhanani Munyulula (32) was on Tuesday granted conditional bail by Ghanzi Magistrate Court, Ms Keneilwe Thebeetsile.

The accused, a teacher at Itekeng Junior Secondary School was granted bail on condition that he bind himself with P2 000, provide two Batswana adult sureties, also binding themselves with P1 000 each. He is also restrained from accessing the deceased’s house and ordered not to interfere with potential state witnesses.

However, Ms Thebeetsile said since the deceased and the accused person were allegedly cohabiting the accused person could only access deceased’s house under police escort.

The case will mention on December 20, 2022 for status update. Munyulula is accused of murdering his colleague and girlfriend, Ms Puleng Pule on December 2, 2022 along A3 road.

Investigating officer, Sergeant Keatlaretse Tsimako told court that investigations were ongoing.

She said the body of the deceased was discovered at the car accident scene by emergency service personnel. According to Sergeant Tsimako the accused person was arrested by Botswana Defence Force personnel while trying to flee the scene of the accident. 

Even though the accused claimed to have been involved in a car accident, Sergeant  Tsimako said he did not sustain any form of injury even the vehicle alleged to have been involved in the accident had no scratches.  

As such, she said they suspected foul play, and therefore investigations were ongoing to establish the cause of death.

 She said the police were also looking for the belongings of the deceased, which were a handbag, shoes and cellphone. The body of the deceased is undergoing postmortem to establish the cause of death.

The accused pleaded with the court to grant him bail, so that he could have an opportunity to grieve the death of his girlfriend, whom they had spent memorable time together until her untimely death. Munyulula has told court that he had never wished her any harm.

He said accusation of murder levelled against him came as a surprise and was unfair especially that he only got to learn about it through the case docket.

 He said on the day of the alleged murder, they were on a joyride. “I wonder who would harm his girlfriend while on a joy drive,” he said.  

He said since he was unfit to drive that day he gave car keys to the deceased to be behind the steering wheel before the alleged accidents happened. ENDs