A police detective’s investigative skills were last week put to the test and found wanting in a marriage wrecking case he had brought to court against his wife’s alleged boyfriend.
Two months ago, Detective Unami Tibathuwe of Maun launched a spirited P150, 000 marriage wrecking suit against Baratwa Thango, a man he suspected of having an affair with his wife.
Last week the detective failed to use his professional skills to nail the suspect, losing his case against Thango, 42, because he could not prove the allegations of marriage wrecking he had levelled against the latter beyond reasonable doubt.
In a civil suit that was settled before Maun customary court last Monday, Thango was acquitted and discharged of the marriage wrecking charges.
The presiding chief, Charles Letsholathebe ruled that- based on the evidence provided by Tibathuwe, Thango could not be the cause of problems in the detective’s marriage.
“Because he has failed to bring enough evidence to prove any of the wrong doing he has accused you of, the court is setting you free from this charge, you are not responsible for Tibathuwe’s wrecked marriage,”said Letsholathebe.
The case started with Tibathuwe reporting Thango to the customary court for marriage wrecking and demanding a P150 000 compensation for ‘heartbreak and bruised ego.’
He accused Thango and his wife; Lorato Tibathuwe of having an extra marital affair which he said was characterised by sex and intimate love messages.
He further alleged that at some point he went with two other people to confront Thango about it, and that in admission of guilt Thango had paid him P8000 and asked him to forgive him.
He however alleged that the affair did not stop and that he found offensive love messages from Thango on his wife’s mobile phone and some of those were on whatsApp.
Tibathuwe brought a print out of the alleged messages to court, but Thango argued that the officer had faked them and challenged him to produce evidence to authenticate the messages.
The task however proved impossible for the detective who returned to court this week armed only with an explanation of how WhatsApp works.
Thango had a field day throwing jabs at the detective.
“I don’t stay in Maun and I use money to get here, the longer the case drags before court the more expenses I incur. He said he will bring proof that indeed messages he found on his wife’s phone were from me but he has failed,” said Thango, adding that the cop had faked the messages in anticipation of plenty of money from him.
“He said I met with his wife at the lodge where we slept together but he has failed to bring proof of that as well, not even a receipt did he bring here. He said I paid him P8000 but he has not brought any proof of that either,” Thango said in his defence.
Kgosi Letsholathebe agreed with Thango that indeed he had no case to answer and set him free.