Uncle gives evidence against nephew

Patricia Edwin | Monday November 18, 2013 15:59

Mpho Gaobonwe is on trial for the murder of his live-in girlfriend, Gothusamang Kedineetswe. She was found dead in a tent that they were sharing in his uncle's home. Etsogile said that he had warned his nephew against drinking and abusing Kedineetswe. 

'I told him to stop fighting this girl and I often told his mother that at the age of 22 he was too young to stay with a girlfriend in the home,' he said.  Evidence before court is that the accused person and Kedineetswe, who is now deceased had a fistfight resulting from a 'misunderstanding' the previous night.

His uncle told the court that on the morning of April 21 or 22, 2010, he arrived at his home around 6:30am.  He said that when he got there, he received reports that his nephew and Kedineetswe were involved in a terrible fight the night before. 'I then went to wake up the accused person's mother from her tent to go and wake him (the accused) up so we could deal with the issue before I went to work.  I heard he was leaving the yard and I told his mother to wake his girlfriend up,' he said.

However, when Mpho's mother tried to wake Kedineetswe up, she did not respond. ' I went into the tent and found that she did not look alive and the little child was busy playing on top of her,' he said. Etsogile said that he went ahead and called the police.

Defense attorney Reneetswe Rabosotho argued that the girlfriend may have died from other causes. Rabosotho said that unbeknown to the uncle, the deceased was sick and had been given sick leave at work due to severe pains in the heart.  The case continues before Justice Mpaphi Phumaphi.