14 Mar 2024

Jwaneng police are investigating an incident in which a nine-month old baby boy was certified dead after drowning in a bucket on March 11. In an interview with BOPA on March 13, Jwaneng station commander Superintendent Thuso Basuti said the incident happened at Makaje ward in Thankane where the mother found the infant unconscious with his head inside the bucket. “It is reported that the baby was crawling back and forth between his mother’s room and his siblings’ room while the siblings were preparing for school that morning. The mother did not suspect anything until she started looking for him after the siblings had left for school, and she found him head down in the bucket of water left by the siblings, which is estimated to be about seven litres,” he explained. He noted that the unconscious infant was taken to the local clinic where the doctor later certified him dead. He said a post-mortem on the body was scheduled for March 15, while police investigations into the matter continue. On other unrelated issues, Supt. Basuti has decried high number of incidents such as assault, unlawful wounding and assault occasioning bodily harm in his policing area, which he said usually occur during drinking sprees. He consequently appealed to residents to resolve misunderstandings without taking the law into their hands. “I urge people to desist from taking the law into their own hands, but instead either report to the police or any authority for mediation,” he said. He also urged them to drink responsibly to avoid unnecessary and unwanted incidents, and also normalise retreating when they have had enough to drink. ENDS