Dumped man found guilty of terrifying threat
SLOW but steady, on Tuesday the long arm of the law finally caught up with a foul-mouthed man for a terrifying threat he made to his ex-girlfriend almost four years ago.
Appearing before Molepolole Magistrates’ Court this week, 42-yearold Patrick Kootshole was found guilty of threatening to kill his on/off lover, Nancy Ramasunyana.
On the evening of 26th July, 2019 after dragging his former lover away from Salt Pan Bar, where she was drinking with her brother, Kootshole warned her, “O nne lucky ke seka ka e fitlhela, fa ke ka e fitlhela ke tsile go go lokolola molala e bo ke go tshela mmu mo leganong a bo ke ya go ikaletsa ko didibeng. Go dumela gore re kgaogane ke fa ke go bolaile, e seng jalo ke tsile go tswelela ke go kgokgontsha (Be lucky that I do not find it [his knife], if I find it, I am going to cut your neck and put soil into your mouth and then I will go and hang myself at the boreholes. To be satisfied that the relationship is over, I must kill you or else I am going to continue abusing you).”
Court heard the former couple started dating in 2010, shortly after Ramasunyana, 27, completed her Form Three.
However, the love affair soured when Kootshole turned violent, and in 2016 Ramasunyana found the courage to leave him.
They rekindled their romance a year later but Kootshole soon returned to his old ways, causing a fed-up Ramasunyana to dump him again, finding love in the arms of a different man at the start of 2019.
Unable to accept she had moved on, Kootshole did not take the rejection well.
On the night in question, he followed Ramasunyana when she left the bar to use the toilet, confronting her and demanding to know who her new boyfriend was.
Upon being told it was none of his business, an irate Kootshole dragged his ex away from the bar premises, asking her to spend the night with him.
When Ramasunyana refused, the accused kept tight hold of her, dragging her as far as the Social Welfare Office, where she finally wriggled free and ran for her life.
She did not get far though, as Kootshole managed to grab her with one hand. It was while rifling through his pockets with his other hand, apparently looking for a knife, that he uttered his spine-chilling threat.
Fortunately, Ramasunyana was able to free herself again, Kootshole shouting after her as she fled that he would check her at work the next day.
In fact, he met her again later that night, turning up at her home and requesting his boxer shorts, which Ramasunyana’s mother, Boitumelo Ramasunyana, duly handed over.
Proving true to his word, at around 4pm the next day (27th July, 2019), Kootshole showed up at Lephepe Primary School, where his ex was working as a security guard. Fearing for her life, Ramasunyana locked herself in the office.
She was eventually rescued by her relatives, who went to the school and forcefully dragged Kootshole away, while he reportedly hurled both insults and stones at them.
In his defence, the accused called on his former flame’s grandmother, Nkhibidu Modiegi, 76, to be his witness.
Taking to the stand, her face wrinkled with time, the old woman said, “During that day, Kootshole came to my place in the morning. Later, Nancy’s brother arrived accompanied by his mother and they told me they were looking for Ko o t s h ol e , who then left with them. A little later, he came running chased by the mob, including Nancy’s relatives, who were throwing stones at him. He managed to escape inside the hut where I was selling traditional beer and we closed him inside.”
In his testimony, Kootshole did not deny the threats but rather defended himself by accusing Ramasunyana of cheating on him even though he bought bricks to build them a house.
“Nancy’s mother doesn’t reprimand her; she uses men to support her family - that’s why she influenced Nancy to report me!” insisted Kootshole bitterly, his bleached blonde hair matching his yellow top,.
Declared guilty, he was remanded in custody and is next due in court on 15th May for mitigation and sentencing.