Man dies in inferno

The incident not only shocked the sedate village of Mathangwane, 30 kilometres south of Francistown, but also left a relative of the deceased, whose name was disclosed as Mbatshi Mpoloka, with more questions than answers.

More ire, however, was directed at the police whom the relatives said were inept when dealing with the matter at the scene on the night of the incident.

Scathing in his attack of the police was Mpoloka's uncle, Rodgers Molao, who said when the police were called to the scene they just sat back and looked on without lifting a finger.

'To let you in on what actually happened, I was called by my elder brother, the father of the deceased, Meshack Mpoloka, at around 3am.

He informed me that his son died in a burning house.
'I immediately departed for the place to confirm for myself.
There were uniformed police officers when I arrived at the scene.
They sat in their car as the fire raged on.
I was informed by people I found there that a fire truck that came to put out the fire was barred by those police officers from doing so.
'At around 8am, the police from Criminal Investigations Department (CID) arrived and when I informed their leader that we were unhappy at the fact that a fire truck was turned away, he admitted that the officers who took such a step were wrong.
'What we were saying is that had they put the fire out, maybe we could have salvaged a better body to bury and not the debris we ended up gathering,' said a hurting Molao.
He said only the torso remained largely intact as the head had been charred beyond recognition and the limbs had been reduced to ashes.
Another relative said the police's action contrasted sharply with the crusade they were waging against people who tamper with evidence.
 Relatives accuse the police of taking time at bar before proceeding with the site of the accident.

They also believe that the young man lit a cigarette, setting fire to the place where he slept because there was no candle there.
According to Molao: 'What made us suspicious is that he seemed to have died without a struggle, perhaps from the fumes of the burning mattress.'
Mpoloka's father was too distraught to speak. On being contacted on Monday, Tatitown police station commander, Superintendent Gilbert Mathumo, confirmed the incident, denying that his officers ever barred the fire truck from putting out the fire.
'Why would we do that?
Are we not the ones who called the fire truck in the first place?' Mathumo retorted in defence of his officers.
'It is still too early for us to say whether there was foul play or not because we are still investigating,' said Mathumo.