16 Jul 2026

A 46-year-old mother of 10  from Khakhea has told the High Court in Gaborone that extreme postnatal distress and severe poverty led her to conceal and abandon her newborn child in 2017.

Ms Keitiretse Tau pleaded guilty to a charge of child neglect, which was downgraded from an initial charge of attempted murder.

Appearing before Gaborone High Court Judge, Justice Oteng Motlhala on Monday, Ms Tau’s defense attorney, Mr Lucky Radimpe, pleaded for a non-custodial sentence, arguing that instead of incarceration, Tau urgently required psychosocial support.

Mr Radimpe described Ms Tau as an illiterate and isolated woman living with a chronic illness and enduring severe psychological distress.

“The offence relates to a concealed pregnancy. She gave birth alone and thereafter hid the child in a shallow pit,” Mr Radimpe told the court, explaining that at the time of the incident in 2017, Ms Tau was 37 years old with nine children.

The court heard that none of the four fathers of her children provided any financial or emotional support, leaving her to shoulder the burden entirely on her own. 

Her family lived in abject poverty, a situation further exacerbated by social exclusion and repeated childbearing.

Crucially, professional mental health and psychological intervention only reached Tau in 2019, two years after the incident occurred.

Mr Radimpe argued that while Tau was an experienced mother, her socioeconomic circumstances had driven her to a breaking point.

“The criminal process responded too late and too narrowly, my Lord,” he submitted.

Despite the immense struggles, the defence highlighted Tau’s exemplary cooperation with the justice system, noting that she had never missed a single court date, faithfully making the long journey from Khakhea to Gaborone for every hearing.

In urging the court to temper justice with mercy, Mr Radimpe emphasised that her guilty plea saved the court significant time and expense while demonstrating genuine remorse.

“Although the court is entitled to disapprove of the mother’s conduct, it should also consider her circumstances,” Mr Radimpe said, adding that ‘the sentence must not only fit the crime, but also the offender and the circumstances in which the crime was committed.’

He also noted that Ms Tau had not been permitted to see her child since the incident in 2017.

The state, represented by prosecutor Katlego Seema, indicated that the prosecution would not be seeking an aggravated sentence. Sentencing has been scheduled for August 26. ENDS