A 14-year-old relationship ended tragically in the early hours of Monday morning when jilted lover, Ikgopoleng Nare, 35, attacked the mother of his three kids and decapitated her with a machete before hanging himself.
The slain woman, Otilia Gabaeme, 32, who was pregnant at the time, was repeatedly struck on the head by her enraged ex-lover. Reports say she was in the company of another man, assumed to be the father of her unborn child, when Nare pounced on them and mercilessly murdered her.
The unidentified man ran for his life at the sight of the weapon, leaving Gabaeme behind to deal with her enraged ex-lover.
Nare, popularly known as ‘Chuck’, is said to have killed the woman before walking a short distance to the entrance of a nature reserve where he hanged himself.
A few days leading to the attack, Nare, whose colleagues described as calm, quite and harmless, had been leaving cryptic messages on his social media platforms. Some of his confusing Facebook posts were eventually deleted, but they mostly addressed infidelity and death. In one of his posts, Nare wrote, “Pain ya ho robalelwa mosadi o le teng in the same place e handler jang bathong (How do you handle the pain of having your girlfriend openly cheat on you?).”
Both the deceased hail from the small village of Motlhabaneng, just 54 kilometres from Mashatu Game Reserve.
In an interview with The Voice, Semolale Police Station Assistant Superintendent, Seitiketso Mpusetsang, confirmed the gruesome discovery. He said his officers rushed to the scene after receiving the report after midnight and that the lady was quickly rushed to Lentswelemoriti Clinic.
“Our officers then combed the bush for the suspect and they found him hanging from a tree not far from the scene of crime,” he said.
A former employee at the camp, who spoke to The Voice on condition of anonymity, said the two, who were both employees at the camp, had a big fall out last year, which put a dent on their relationship which, for the most part of the 14 years, was rosy.
He said it became worse when Nare lost his job, and had to vacate the camp.
“Otty quickly moved on, finding comfort in the arms of another colleague within the camp,” he said.
The source said just recently Nare returned to the camp where he was hired to carry out maintenance duties. “He had to watch everyday as the mother of his kids flaunted her new boyfriend and, to make matters worse, she was pregnant. He simply failed to accept that Otty had moved on,” said the former colleague.
