Woman killed with an axe haft for ending relationship

Thatayaone Molefe, 31, of Tsetsebjwe village has allegedly been killed by her 29-year-old boyfriend Phenyo Moilwa of Lerala village this past weekend.

According to sources close to the matter, the woman was killed after telling her boyfriend that she wants out of the relationship, and that he should move out of her parents’ home where they had been cohabiting. Angered by the woman’s decision, the accused allegedly picked an axe haft which he used to repeatedly hit the deceased all over her body, including the head.

The boyfriend then fled the scene and went to hide at a friend’s place. When arriving home, the deceased's father found the lifeless body of his child on the ground. He rushed her to the hospital where she was certified dead upon arrival. Baines Drift Station Commander Onneetse Gagogosha confirmed investigating the incident. The incident is alleged to have happened around 2030hrs, but the police were only informed about it an hour later when the deceased already been taken to the hospital.

“We managed to arrest the suspect and he was in court this past Tuesday. He has been remanded in custody and will be back in court on the 23rd of April," Gagogosha said. In another incident that happened in Sookeng cattle post, some 30km from Moletemane village, a 32-year-old woman was raped by a man that she had hired to fix her kraal. Gagogosha shared that according to a report before them, the man was not a stranger, it was someone she knows well and trusted. After working on the kraal all day, the man informed the woman that it was late, suggesting that it would be difficult to return to Moletemane where he lives. The woman then allowed the man to spend the night. She prepared a bed for him in one of the spare rooms in the yard and they both retired to their beds. However, the man woke up in the middle of the night and began knocking on the woman’s door, demanding that she opens.

The woman refused, suspecting something sinister, but the banging did not stop. Realising that she might be in trouble, the woman decided to escape through the window. Sadly, for her, the man caught her, dragged her to where he had been sleeping and proceeded to rape her. After pleasing himself, the man left and police are yet to arrest him.