Youth accuses cop of stabbing and shooting him
A youth who claims he was beaten black and blue, stabbed and then repeatedly shot by an over zealous police officer is planning to sue for assault.
28-year-old Obusitswe Ledikwe, a former backing dancer for Vee, insists the Gaborone West cop used excessive force when arresting him for breaking curfew on 25 April.
Known as Joy Camphor in music circles, the injured man, whose back is covered in purple bruises from where the rubber bullets hit him, maintains the incident left him fearing for his life.
Speaking to The Voice almost a week after the event, Ledikwe says the trouble started when he was caught in the street at around midnight.
“I was walking from my uncle’s house when I spotted a police car,” he narrates, adding he then ran for the safety of a friend’s house.
However, according to Ledikwe, the police gave chase.
Slowed down by drink, he was eventually apprehended by an officer.
“He started kicking me. I was drunk, holding two quartz of Black Label and when he kicked me I smashed them against the wall and sustained cuts on my palm,” says Ledikwe, holding up his hand to show his scarred, stitched flesh.
“He stabbed me with a sharp object under my left breast. That was a knife. I tried to run away and he shot me with rubber bullets on my back and I collapsed. My friend was there watching helplessly. He handcuffed me while bleeding and his colleague, who was driving, helped him to lift me into the back of their van.”
Whimpering in pain, Ledikwe says he was taken to Julia Molefe Clinic where he was treated for injuries and released the same day.
“Up till today I have not been charged with any offence,” he adds angrily.
Taking over the narrative, Ledikwe’s mother, Kedibonye Ledikwe says she will not rest until justice is served.
Kedibonye tells The Voice that two days after the incident, they reported the matter to the Station Commander, ‘who did not assist’. Undeterred, the family took up the matter with a higher power, seeking out the area Member of Parliament and Councillor.
“After MP Christian Greeff intervened, two officers from headquarters visited us and my son narrated his ordeal. We opened a case with Sir Seretse Khama Airport and the Crime Investigation Department is investigating it.”
Describing the officer as ‘heartless’, the irate mum concludes, “The x-ray shows that the stab did not affect the internal parts but I am afraid there might be internal bleeding.”
Unfortunately, efforts to get a comment from the police proved unsuccessful as the Station Commander, Onious Madziba, explained he was on leave.
sorry but some of his statement ke maaka, because according to him he ended up collapsing ,in which u cant hear anything but ena nne autlwa which to me is a lie, and why was he running
hahah how he also talks about the police stabbing him with a knife and shooting him just sounds to far fetched