A Thamaga man whose ear was cut off by his sister’s ex-boyfriend was recently stopped from withdrawing a charge of causing grievous bodily harm by the magistrate.
Interviewed outside court after the case was called for trial before a magistrate in Molepolole, 42-year-old Letlhogonolo Tshipe said that he had decided to withdraw the case because the aggressor’s mother had offered to pay him P20 000 as compensation for his damaged ear.
According to Tshipe his ear was bitten off by Lesego Tsie, 34, when he tried to stop the rowdy younger man from harassing the family when he was demanding to see his ex-grilfirned.
“He paid my sister whom I lived with an unwanted visit back in July 31st, 2016. On that night Tsie was drunk and disorderly, knocking on the window of my grandmother’s room demanding to see my sister who was his his ex-girlfriend.
“He refused to leave, so I pushed him and he immediately went into a fit of rage biting my ear flap off and spitting it on the ground. I picked it before I called my neighbour to accompany me to the police,” explained Tshipe who was later taken to Thamaga Primary Hospital by the police.
Although doctors tried to stitch it back, the ear only took two weeks and got infected and fell off.
However, after such a painful incident that has permanently disfigured his body, Tshipe was only dissuaded by the court from withdrawing the charges of causing grievous harm.
Without extenuating circumstances, a charge of grievous harm carries an imprisonment term of not less than 7 years or more than 14 years, but if there are extenuating circumstances, the court may impose a lesser sentence than that prescribed.
Meanwhile, prosecutor Sub Inspector Ogone Motsholathebe had earlier on told the court that he will refer the matter to Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) after the Principal Magistrate Solomon Setshedi advised him that before he considered withdrawing the matter, he must look at the nature and gravity of the case.
“My advice is if the accused is convicted you may still seek for compensation, you can still pursue civil court for compensation. I’m not going to allow withdrawal at this stage because it’s a serious matter, justice should prevail,” said the magistrate.
The case will be back before court on June 6th, 2023.
