The Voice (Francistown)
Moses Maruping
29 April 2008
Francistown — The grieving family of a teenage girl who was killed while jogging have reacted with shock and anger towards the senseless murder.
Hardly five days into the New Year, 17- year - old Kaone Mogolodi's life, was cut short on her last early morning jog. Mogolodi, a former Kgale Hill Community Junior Secondary School student was found by a family members' search party gagged, stripped naked, murdered and dumped in the Tlokweng river.
Relating the gruesome details of his niece's untimely demise, the girl's uncle, Mogolodi Tiro Mogolodi, 28, said on Friday the 5th, he received a phone call from a relative notifying him that Kaone had that particular morning at 0500hrs left for her usual morning jog but hadn't returned.
"I received the call at around 1435hrs and got worried about her. Thoughts of what could have happened to her started racing in my mind. I even suspected that she might have committed suicide after realising that perhaps she did not perform as well as she would have liked to in the form 3 exams."
However Mogolodi did not have to guess what happened to his niece for too long because no sooner had they followed Kaone's jogging route did they discover her lifeless body dumped in the river. Sorrow and grief etched on his face Mogolodi said that it was not long into the search that he noticed what looked like a person's leg protruding from a bush nearby the river bank. "After a closer inspection we realised that it was Kaone and that she was stark naked except for one shoe on her foot. Her hands had been tied together with her black T-shirt and something which looked like a bra had been stuffed in her mouth. I think whoever killed her suffocated her with the bra."
Still shaken and trembling, Mogolodi said he called the police and Kaone's grandmother, 53- year old Ellen Ramatlapeng, Matlapeng, who lived with Kaone said, "My granddaughter was passionate about jogging and fitness. She would leave the house at 0500hrs every morning and be back before we leave for work at 0800hrs." She further said that prior to the tragic incident, Kaone had on the previous day mentioned that since she had neglected her running during the festive season, she was going to start the following day.
"The next day she indeed went jogging and I waited and waited hoping she'd return. When the clock struck 1130hrs I called her mother, Bonolo Segokgo who stays in Modipane and later her two uncles." Tears welling up in her eyes, the grieving granny said that she suspects her granddaughter might have taken the dark forest path along the river bank where she jogged into the hands of a spineless coward who prey on women. "I'm totally broken. Kaone was a friendly jolly character who got along with everyone. She was also a promising and intelligent young lady and we were still expecting a lot from her. I don't know why other people would want us to live in constant fear in our own country. I plead with Tlokweng residents and the nation at large to help us apprehend the culprit who did this unspeakable incident and bring him to book."
Kaone's brokenhearted mother, Bonolo Segokgo was too shattered to comment on her daughter's death. Member of Parliament for South East North, Olebile Gaborone who was at the murdered girl's memorial service on Wednesday evening said it was very sad that the country was faced with a rise in brutal murders, especially of women.
He said it was high time residents formed crime prevention alliances to abate the alarming spate of these senseless murders. "Somebody might have been witness to this crime and just because there are no proper channels such as community crime prevention committees he or she might drag his or her feet in identifying the perpetrators. Let's all stand together and fight crime." he said
No arrests have been made yet. Superintendent Moitally Thokweng of Tlokweng Police said, "we are investigating the case. At the moment we are awaiting post-mortem results to establish the real cause of the girl's death."
She will be buried this Saturday in Tlokweng.
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