Tonota toddler drowns in bucket

FRANCISTOWN: Tonota police are investigating an incident in which a oneyear-and-two-months-old child accidentally drowned in a 20-litre bucket in Tholo ward.

Tonota Police Station Commander, Superintendent Oteng Ngada said the incident took place on Thursday in the afternoon. According to the Tonota police chief, the 53-year-old grandfather who lived with the child told the police that he had left for work at Tati Siding with his wife leaving the child behind with a helper. The deceased child and his older siblings were in the care of the helper.

“The grandfather alleged that during the fateful day he received a telephone report from the helper that the child drowned in a 20-litre bucket full of water,” Ngada added. The toddler was then rushed to Tonota Clinic where he was certified dead.

The station commander stated that preliminary investigations established that the helper, an undocumented Zimbabwean, was mopping the house using the same bucket. He said the helper then left the bucket unattended to go outside with the children to tend to other household chores. “The deceased apparently went back [into the house] unnoticed where he allegedly drowned in the bucket,” he said.

Ngada stated that the 38-year-old helper is currently in police custody as she entered the country illegally. The helper is yet to appear before the Francistown Magistrate’s Court for entering Botswana through an ungazetted point of entry. Tonota Police Station boss said the family is likely to be charged with harbouring an illegal immigrant. He explained that they are still waiting for funeral proceedings to be complete.