15 Jun 2023

Murder accused, Nthusang  Kachamake (28) of Kang, appeared before Justice Terrence Rannonwane at High court in Gaborone on Wednesday to answer for charges of murder and unlawful assault.

Kachamake is charged with the murder of his  younger brother and unlawful assault  of his younger sister in November 20 2016..

In his defence, Kachamake told the court that  on that fateful day, he was home when a spirit tormented him and he started to hallucinate.

He said  like in previous episodes, he was seeing creatures like thokolosi and snakes which he wanted to fight with all his might.

Regrettably, while he was battling with the spirits, he chopped his two-year old younger brother with an axe on the waist and also injured her younger sister with a log on the face.

“I used to visit some churches and they told me that I was tormented by the spirits,” he said when giving his evidence in chief.

He said even after chopping his brother, he did not realise that he had committed murder or had hurt his sister.

 “I was told by the police after being arrested and regained conscious that witnesses were saying I chopped a child with an axe and injured another,” he said.

  His father, Mr Sikele Nkaletsa told the court that his son’s problem started around October 2016, when he started to hallucinate and displayed wierd behaviour.

“He will talk alone and will walk around aimlessly, he will not even responding when I tried to talk to him,” he said.

 Mr Nkaletsa said the boy was eventually taken to the hospital where he was given medication to stabilise his situation.

He  produced a Kang Clinic stamped medical card belonging to his son, which captured his medical history before the  incident.

 In addition, the defence attorney Ms Ntandoyake Mhlanga submitted a psychiatric evaluation report detailing his client’s mental health history.

Earlier, the investigating officer Assistant Superintendent Lorato Balotlhanyi of Kang Police station told the court that on the day the incident happened, she was called for duty and later went to the clinic where the children were taken to.

Upon arrival, she said she found the mother with the injured child while the boy was with the doctor inside the consultation room.

 “The doctor then showed us the baby boy laying on a bed and told us that he was dead,” she said.

 On inspection, she said the boy had a deep wound on the back by the waist, adding they then took the body to the mortuary for postmortem.

 She further said that at the crime scene, they were shown the blankets where the chopped boy was laying, adding that by that time, the suspect had already been arrested.

 Assistant Superintendent Balotlhanyi further said she showed the suspect an axe and the log which were from the crime scene and the suspect said he could recognise them.

The case continues and  state is represented by Ms Tebo Monyeki of Directorate of Public Prosecutions.  BOPA