15 Jul 2025

Francistown Magistrates Court has extended remand of the mother and daughter duo who are facing charges of murdering a 72-year-old woman.

The accused, Ruth Fana and Onalenna Fana, who are the daughter and grand daughter to the deceased, Ellicar Fana are alleged to have murdered her at Makobo on June 7. They appeared before Principal Magistrate Thapelo Buang on July 15 where their charge sheet was also amended to add the robbery offence. They are alleged to have stolen two cell phones from the deceased.

When delivering the ruling, Mr Buang said the accused could not be granted bail as their reasons were not valid enough and without merit. He said as much as the accused had the right to bail, the court needed to balance the interest of the accused as well as that of the society. The magistrate also mentioned that the accused may interfere with the investigations.

The two women had asked court to grant them bail, reasons being that they had to take care of their children, a 17- year-old boy and 11- year-old girl, who needed assistance with school work and medical attention respectively. The duo will appear before Francistown Magistrate court on August 18 for the case status hearing. ENDS