Village Magistrate Lindiwe Makgoro was not amused last Tuesday when a Gender Based Violence (GBV) victim withdrew a threat to kill case against her boyfriend.
Court heard that the accused person, Calson Boema on the 29th of November without any lawful excuse threatened to kill Tebogo Keweditswe by uttering words ‘ke tsile go go bolaa’ (I am going to kill you)
It is alleged that last Friday Boema assaulted Keweditswe who is his lover.
The accused was arrested and detained by Gaborone West Police Station.
When he was arraigned before court, Keweditswe told prosecution that she had decided to withdraw the case.
Taking a stand explaining her reasons not to continue with the case she said both her parents and Boema’s had intervened to reconcile the fighting couple.
Makgoro said the public thinks the courts and police are failing victims of GBV not knowing that it is the victims that often withdraw such cases.
She said courts take these matters seriously and the government has recently taken a tough stance against GBV and it was disappointing that the victims often choose to withdraw instead of going ahead with prosecution.
“The government has even promised to set up specialised courts for GBV cases to address the problem. Now victims are making our jobs difficult. It is also a waste of state resources and police officers time. There are high cases of GBV and they are prioritized. The person threatens to kill you, he comes back to your house and you spend a night with him and he assaults you. This should be the last time I see you in court,” said Makgoro