12 Feb 2025

Shakawe police are investigating an incident in which two men of Kaputura in the Okavango District died after allegedly drinking a herbal concoction on Saturday.

Acting Police Station commander, Assistant Superintendent Babinang Banohi confirmed the incident in an interview, noting that they received a report on Sunday from a 60-year-old man from Kaputura that his younger brother, aged 55, had died at JP Kavindama hospital after drinking herbal mixture together with his two friends.

He said they hurried to Kaputura where they found the deceased friends in a critical health condition and rushed them to the hospital where they were both admitted and unfortunately, the other one died on Monday.

Since the family member suspected the herbal concoction to be the cause of the death, Assistant Superintendent Banohi said they have managed to collect the concoction for further analysis at their laboratory.

Meanwhile, in Maun the police are investigating a suicide incident in which a middle-aged man was found hanging from the rafters of his house at Boseja ward.

Superintendent Joseph Lepodisi said they received a report on Sunday morning from the deceased’s brother.

He said he reported that they were surprised that the deceased did not wake up and their efforts to knock at his house were in vain until another member of the family looked through the window and saw him hanging.

Since the house was locked, they forced entry into the house adding that it was unfortunate, as the deceased did not leave any note.

Prior to the report, Superintendent Lepodisi said the police went to the deceased house around 6am in connection to a common nuisance offence reported by his girlfriend and he was nowhere to be found.

The deceased’s body is laying at Letsholathebe Memorial Hospital awaiting post-mortem while investigations continue.  He appealed to members to seek advice from relatives, social workers and the police.

“Incidents of suicide are a serious concern as last year we recorded 16 while this year so far we recorded only one,” he added. ENDS