‘Hacker’ husband free to go after alleged love rival drops charges
A soldier accused of hacking a herdboy he allegedly caught in bed with his wife is a free man after his apparent love rival dropped the charges against him.
51-year-old Sergeant Keamogetse Kaorapela faced one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm for the bloody events said to have occurred in the early hours of 19 March.
Allegedly armed with a small axe and a shotgun, the bespectacled Botswana Defence Force (BDF) member reportedly arrived at his wife’s residence in Malwelwe village in the dead of night.
It is believed she was in bed with Karabo Odirile Morapane, 45, at the time, and refused to open the front door for her husband.
Sources say Kaorapela, who is stationed at Thebephatshwa Air Base, then beat the door down with his axe to gain entrance to the house, where Morapane was cowering under a stretcher bad.
When he finally emerged, a wrestling match allegedly broke out between the two men, with the gun falling to the ground during the commotion.
The wife, 36, seemingly snatched the weapon and fled to the neighbour’s yard, leaving the two men brawling.
At some point, Sergeant Kaorapela is said to have struck Morapane in the head with an axe before the younger man managed to escape.
Arrested and hauled before Molepolole Magistrates Court the very next day, Kaorapela was remanded in custody for two weeks before he was eventually granted bail.
The Lehututu native, known by the nickname ‘Ryder, is now off the hook completely, after Morapane told the police he wanted to withdraw the matter.
Briefly outlining his reasons to court, the ex-complainant, who spent a week in hospital after the incident, said simply, “The accused is my elder brother.”
Insisting no money had changed hands, he added, “I wasn’t coerced to withdraw the case, he has not paid me.”
It left Principal Magistrate, Solomon Setshedi with no option but to withdraw the matter, discharging and acquitting Sergeant Kaorapela with a warning that he should desist from assaulting people.
According to the penal code, any person who commits assault occasioning actual bodily harm is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years, with or without corporal punishment.
