“He kicked me and I lost my temper and stabbed him with a scissor I had borrowed to cut my beard. We were drunk as we had been drinking chibuku,” the suspect brazenly told Francistown Magistrate Court on a chilly Tuesday morning.
26-year-old Bokitlanye Gaboiphiwe, whose scruffy beard remained untrimmed, is charged with unlawful wounding after reportedly stabbing one Omphithetse Kgosana in the hand and chest with a pair of scissors.
The two men had been drinking at a depot in Mabesekwa village’s Mokuelele ward on Friday night when the altercation erupted.
During Tuesday’s brief court appearance, the Prosecutor, Sub Inspector Kenneth Edward revealed Kgosana had been discharged from hospital earlier in the day.
The Prosecutor did not argue against Gaboiphiwe being granted bail, providing conditions were set.
“The investigations are not complete. If he is to be granted bail he should pay a sum of P500 and provide two sureties who will bind themselves with P500. The accused person should not interfere with the witnesses, more especially the complainant. He has to attend court as ordered and should not be suspected of or commit any offence,” requested Edward – terms that the Magistrate readily agreed to.
Meanwhile, Tonota Station Commander, Oteng Ngada told The Voice that the accused handed himself into Mabsekwa Police Post on Saturday (4 July) the day after the incident.
“The matter was reported after the complainant ran and fell at a nearby yard next to the depot they were drinking at. He was rushed to the clinic where he was referred to Nyangabgwe Hospital,” explained the top cop, ruefully adding that drinking at depots was becoming a real problem in the area.
“We are trying by all means to stop the depots but it seems there are some who are determined to continue operating them. And at the depots they do not follow social distancing. The investigations will determine whether we press charges on the owner of the depot where the incident happened,” concluded Ngada.
Gaboiphiwe is due back in court on 21 July. If found guilty, the maximum possible sentence he faces is seven years in prison.
