Gaborone Village Magistrate, Oahile Mokibe, denied bail to a 42-year-old murder accused, Modise Essau.
Mokibe said that her court does not have jurisdiction to grant murder accused bail and advised the parties to approach the High court. Essau is accused of killing his 32-year-old wife, Setshwano Essau, by pushing her from the balcony of their Flat at  Phase 4  on  April 25th and causing her death. Setshwano Essau allegedly fell to her death at her place in Block 25, Room 11, Phase 4 after some force was exerted on her allegedly by her partner. They were on separation at the time and the woman was staying alone. According to court documents, after the incident on April 25, the husband was arrested immediately and was later released. After investigations, the police then re-arrested him and he was held in custody.
The case appears to have divided the two families who filled the court room.
Kabelo Nkwe, of the Directorate of Public Prosecutions, asked the court to remand the accused in custody pending their investigations. He said the state had a crucial witness who the accused knows and by giving him bail, it would put the life of the witness in danger.
“The state is awaiting the post mortem report so that we can establish the cause of death,” said Nkwe.”We are also waiting for a Forensic Report from the cellphone which was used by the deceased to find out the people she communicated with before the incident.”
The defence lawyer, Unoda Mack, said that he had tried to convince the court by stating that the DPP had not proved how the accused would interfere with the state witness. He said the state had failed to prove their fear if the accused is out on bail. DPP repeated that the investigations were still fresh and ongoing and feared that the accused would interfere with their investigations.
