A fifty year old man in Bobonong village was murdered by a mob after being accused of attempting to rape a 13 year old girl. The family of the deceased is considering legal action against the police for detaining the deceased while in critical condition which they believe resulted in his death.
Interviewed by The Telegraph this week, the family spokesperson, Kepaletswe Pheaga, said the family is considering taking legal action against the police following the death of Steven Masilo who was 50 years old.
He said the final decision will be reached after the postmortem report is released. He explained that on the 26th January, Masilo was at a neighbour’s compound where he often watched movies. Pheaga stated that the deceased later told him at the hospital that some young boys demanded his cellphone. However, when he told them that that he had left his cellphone charging at home, a scuffle erupted in which the deceased was attacked by a mob including noncitizens who were in the vicinity.
According to Pheaga, when they asked why Masilo was attacked by the mob they were told that the deceased attempted to rape a girl which resulted in mob justice.
“What baffles us as a family is the fact that some of the police members told us that the deceased was detained on that day, whilst other officers alleged that he was never detained. I’m hoping that we will get to the bottom of the matter,” he said.
Pheaga further stated that the deceased was never given a proper medical treatment due to the alleged gross negligence by the police. However Bobonong police station commander superintendent Paul Soko said his station is investigating a case in which a man was murdered by a mob after he attempted to rape a 13 year old girl.
He said after the attack, the deceased was rushed by the police to the hospital where he was later discharged. However, the deceased was unable to walk and the police took him back to the hospital.
Soko said the deceased was then transferred to Ngangabwe Referral Hospital in Francistown. He was later transferred to Princess Marina Hospital in Gaborone and died a few days later. He denied the accusation by the family that the deceased was detained before being taken to the hospital.
“He was never brought to the police station. He was taken straight to the hospital therefore the allegations are baseless and misleading,” he said.
He indicated that three suspects between the ages of 25 and 35 have been charged with murder. He further said he is worried about the increasing number of rape cases in the village.
Soko revealed that recently two suspected rapists sustained serious injuries after they attempted to rape two women in separate incidents.  
In the first incident a woman defended herself by using an axe to hit her attacker on the shoulder when he attempted to rape her. In the second incident a young woman also used a sharp instrument as self defense to hit the culprit on the head. Soko said both suspects were arrested and are currently hospitalised. He appealed to men to desist from such crude acts.