Molepolole Customary Court has ordered a 43-year-old convicted marriage wrecker to pay P24,000 for ruining a nine-year-old younger woman’s marriage.
Although the 34-year-old Tsholofelo Jerminah Matabogo, whose marriage was destroyed, had sued her love rival, Kaone Kgosimotho, for P40,000 or 8 cows, but the Presiding Chief, Kebonyethebe Kgari, reduced the damages to P24,000 payable in six months.
Matabogo told the court that she demanded P40,000 from Kgosimotho because she had decided to defiantly and openely date a married man despite several warnings to stop.
She argued that to make matters worse, her husband, Brito Matabogo, 39, had moved out of the marital home to go and live at Kgosimotho’s place.
Before passing his sentence, the chief noted that evidence provided by Matabogo had proved beyond reasonable doubt that Kgosimotho was guilty of adultery and marriage wrecking.
“Since the defendant had no intentions to stay away from the complainant’s family, the court finds it fit to make an order, maybe it will assist to make the defendant stay away from the complainant’s family,” said Kgosi Kgari.
Taking the court through the details of her troubles in marriage, Matabogo said she tied the knot in 2019 and got to know Kgosimotho through the many phone calls she made to her husband.
She told of how she confronted Kgosimotho about the affair and begged her to stop and things became better for sometime before the situation worsened last year when she fell pregnant. “My husband started spending nights away from home and I would see his car parked at Kgosimotho’s place. He even deserted the children and stopped caring for them. One time, in the evening, I followed him to Kgosimotho’s house,” explained Matabogo.
The scorned wife went on to tell the court that on that day, the cheating husband left and Kgosimotho locked her inside the house threatening to kill her, until she was saved by the children.
Matabogo further revealed that after that incident, the cheating couple become even much bolder in the manner they conducted their affair, and went on to open a bottle store together.
“You spent most of the time with my husband and he even spent several nights at your place. I often found you two together,” explained Matabogo during cross-examination by her love rival.
In her defence, Kgosimotho claimed to have met Brito in 2015 when she requested him to assist in her chicken business. “One day Matabogo came home accompanied by her father when Brito was at my house and I told him that he had visitors outside. I then started to hear some noise outside as they were quarrelling complaining that Brito spent the night at my place. In the end, they took a photo of his car before they left,” said Kgosimotho.
In the end, the wife threatened to file for divorce since it was clear that Brito was not willing to leave his defiant side chick.