Molepolole man charged with threatening to kill girlfriend
TEXT BREAKER: “Fear tried to overpower me but I tried my best, begging him not to kill me and promising him that we can make a better future together!”
Allegedly overcome by a jealous rage, a Molepolole man is accused of threatening to kill his lover after finding her at home with a male neighbour.
The accused, 58-year-old Mangole Rantimane, reportedly threatened to murder his girlfriend of seven months, Lebogang Kootshole, by uttering the warning, “This is the end of you and me. I will be going to prison and will be released while you will be dead!”
The threat was allegedly made on 30 October 2019.
Charged with threat to kill, the unemployed Lekgwapheng ward resident was arrested and then let out on bail in November. However, his freedom was short-lived and his bail revoked for breaking one of the conditions.
Ordered to stay away from the complainant, Rantimane went straight to Kootshole’s house almost immediately after he had been released from prison.
He has been locked up ever since.
Appearing for mention before Molepolole Magistrate Court, Rantimane angrily reapplied for bail, gesticulating animatedly and complaining loudly about the slow progress in his case.
Unimpressed with the accused’s unruly behaviour, presiding Magistrate, Kefilwe Resheng – who was taking charge of the case for the first time – postponed the matter until 19 March.
“Hopefully by then he will have learnt how to communicate properly!” she remarked, before sending the suspect back to jail.
“Madam, I was born talking like that. I nearly refused to get on the dock. It’s like the court only listens to the police and they are the one’s judging us!” retorted Rantimane, whose fiery court appearance was in stark contrast to the laidback, cheerful demeanour he displayed outside the courtroom.
Speaking to The Voice shortly after the heated mention, 49-year-old Kootshole claimed the trouble started when her neighbour came round to charge his phone at her house.
“He [Rantimane] suspected the man was my boyfriend. He did not want to see me with other men including my customers who buy clothes from me. He asked me for some water, which after drinking he told me to accompany him to the bedroom. I escaped but he followed me holding an okapi knife.”
Speaking in hushed tones, the mother-of-seven – none of which are Rantimane’s children – says her boyfriend dragged her to the bush, where he beat her repeatedly with a tyre belt.
“Fear tried to overpower me but I tried my best, begging him not to kill me and promising him that we can make a better future together!” continued Kootshole, who says Rantimane then marched her to his sister’s yard, calling his nephews to come out and watch ‘how he was going to kill a dog’.
She claims Rantimane’s relatives did not try and intervene but merely stood by watching.
“I was warned not to scream,” added the visibly shaken woman, her glasses steaming up at the memory.
According to Kootshole, Rantimane continued assaulting her with the belt and dragged her through thorns.
“I was eventually rescued by the police and soldiers who were alerted by my uncle’s wife.”
Talking about her relationship, Kootshole revealed she was widowed in March 2003 and had only been with Rantimane for seven months.
“He stayed with his sister. I always advised him to look for temporary jobs so that he could have his own yard but he never listened.
“I am afraid of him. I cannot sleep, I am now living with fear,” concluded Kootshole, the terror evident in her tired eyes.