07 Jan 2014

Orapa police are investigating an incident in which a three-year-old baby died in a road accident on January 4.

Superintendent Kabo Badirwang of Orapa police said the accident occurred around 5 p.m about 6km after Xhumo and the driver of the vehicle carrying six passengers, including the deceased baby was suspected to have been travelling at a high speed. He said the driver lost control of the vehicle which eventually overturned.

Mr Badirwang said other passengers including the driver survived the tragic road accident and were not injured. Supt. Badirwang further lamented that tragic road accidents with casualties were becoming a trend in his policing area of Boteti and therefore, urged people to adhere to road signs and drive with caution.

In other incidents, six people were reported missing within the Orapa policing area over the festive season. Mr Badirwang said three were reported missing at Mopipi while the other three were residents of Kedia. He however, indicated that all the six missing persons were found within two days with the help of the community.

Mr Badirwang said one of the missing persons was a mentally disturbed man who was safely returned to his family after being located by the police. Supt. Badirwang appealed to those harvesting phane to work as a group as it will be easier for them to locate their way back home.

Orapa police were also investigating a case of house breaking and theft, where one of the houses at Orapa was broken into on New Year’s day and the suspected thieves stole a lap top and two bottles of alcohol valued at P300. Mr Badirwang said the suspects were still at large and the police are doing all in their power to apprehend the suspected criminals.   

Meanwhile, Rakops police are investigating the murder of a 66-year-old woman of Xere who was found dead in her house on December 28.  Rakops police station commander Superintendent Makgophe Oageng stated that the woman was discovered by her eldest daughter who paid her a visit on that day and immediately reported the matter to the police.

Mr Oageng stated that they suspect the woman was hit with a blunt object on her head, and they had since apprehended a suspected 28-year-old man to assist the police investigate the circumstances surrounding the old woman’s death. The suspect is reported to be a head boy next to where the deceased was staying.

Rakops police are also investigating a case in which a 11 year-old boy of Khumaga died after drowning in the Boteti River. Mr Oageng said the boy met his untimely death while in the company of his parents and brother aged 9 years and were washing clothes in the river.

He said the boy reportedly drowned while taking a bath with his younger brother. Mr Oageng said even though the father managed to retrieve the boy from the river, it was late as he had already died from drowning.  

As for Letlhakane policing area, Superintendent Robert Mack indicated that between December 17 and January 06, they recorded 10 cases of rape from Letlhakane and surrounding villages. Supt. Mack said despite their efforts in engaging the communities through different educational forums, cases of rape are still at the top of the crime statistics.  

He said there are arrested suspects in some of the cases to help the police with investigations while others are still at large. Mr Mack said it is unfortunate as crimes such as rape are committed at night with the victims alone, adding that most of the rape offences are done in the bush. Supt. Mack said most victims of the rape cases are aged between 15 years and 22 years.

As police, we still wonder where the would-be victims would be going during the night unaccompanied when they get attacked by the perpetrators, he said. Mr Mack also said some unlicensed liquor dealers who even operate beyond stipulated times also fuel such criminal acts as some of the women are attacked on their way home after drinking sprees.

He said they have also registered three cases where some unauthorised persons were caught selling liquor, and the suspects were charged accordingly.
In other issues, Mr Mack said they are also worried by the ever increasing cases of persons found in possession of marijuana/dagga. Over the festive season, they have recorded nine cases. He said they were working round the clock to establish the source of the drug as cases relating to possession and use of dagga are increasing rapidly in the Letlhakane area.

He said Letlhakane police had also arrested 17 illegal immigrants who were deported back to their countries of origin. Mr Mack said some of the illegal immigrants were caught while doing short term jobs while some were engaged as labourers at ploughing fields, with some working as herd boys.

Mr Mack said on road accidents, two people were seriously injured while attending to a puncher of a vehicle they were travelling in on the afternoon of January 06, along Serowe/Letlhakane road. He said it was a rainy afternoon and as such drivers’ view was obscured by the heavy down pours. Mr Mack said the two men who are currently admitted at Letlhakane

Primary Hospital with serious injuries got injured when the vehicle they were fixing was knocked from behind by another vehicle.

Supt Mack said in another accident, a woman was admitted at Orapa Hospital with serious injuries on Friday, Jan 03 after sustaining leg injuries while waiting for her vehicle to be attended to at one of the garages in Letlhakane.

He said the woman was trying to avoid a truck that suddenly got into motion. Mr Mack said the woman was trying to move her car as it was packed in the direction where the gliding truck was headed and was run over by the truck in the process sustaining serious leg injuries. 

Besides the criminal acts recorded over the festive season, Supt Mack has commended the community for working cooperatively with the police. He said those travelling were responsible enough as there were no road casualties recorded in his policing area, and even the liquor dealers who are usually a challenge during the festive season, cooperated well with the police as they traded within the recommended hours. ENDS