11 Jan 2023

The body of a 6-year-old boy who went missing last week Friday was on Tuesday discovered floating in the river at Tjiripa Cattle post 10 kilometres west of Tutume.

According to Officer Commanding No. 15 District, Senior Superintendent Kabo Badirwang three boys aged between eight and 14 years were alerted by their dog, which continually barked at an object, which was floating in the river.

Upon investigating, Snr Supt Badirwang said, the boys were horrified to discover that the dog was yapping at a floating body and they rushed home to inform their grandfather who in turn notified the police.

Snr Supt Badirwang said after receiving the report, together with two witnesses and the missing boy’s uncles, police officers went to the scene where upon arrival the uncles identified the deceased as their nephew.

He said they took the body to the hospital where he was confirmed dead. He said investigations into what might have caused the death were ongoing while the body was at the hospital awaiting post-mortem.

In an interview on Sunday, the boy’s mother Ms Onketsang Tshabang told BOPA that the deceased left home Friday noon to find his 18-year-old sister who was sent to nearby supermarkets to buy him some snacks to eat on his way to Pandamatenga where he was residing with his father.

Ms Tshabang said it was around 2pm when his sister came back from shops that they realised the boy had not returned and they started searching for him.

The boy, she said, was not familiar with the area as he only used to visit them once a year.

Some informers alleged to have seen him around the proximity of Tutume River  bridge and the search then concentrated along the river, which was flooded on that Friday due to the recent torrential rains.

The deceased’s mother said somewhere around the bridge, they found flip-flops he had been wearing and this informed the search team to focus along the river.

Snr Supt Badirwang concurred with the mother that initially the search party, which comprised Botswana Defence Force, Botswana Police Services officers and scuba divers, police helicopter, sniffer dogs and the community, concentrated along the river and peripheral small hills as his flip-flops were found in the proximity of the river.

He advised residents to monitor their children and ensure they were always accompanied by someone older and responsible enough to reprimand them whenever they played near stagnant or flowing water.

He also said they should not leave their children unattended for a long period as they could become curious and try things that may put their lives in danger. Ends