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Innocence and guilt

Christinah Motlhabane
SAD SCENE: House the father hanged himself in

Father strangles son then commits suicide

A Tutume family have been ripped apart by a suspected murder-suicide which left a little boy dead and his father hanging from the rafters of a friend’s house 100km away in Francistown.

Police suspect the dad, a 30-year-old man, strangled his child, aged three, to death at around 2000hrs on Tuesday night in the family home at Magapatona ward.

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The youngster was found unconscious by his aunt, his tiny body laid out on his father’s bed.

Confirming the sad development, Tutume Station Commander, Jerry Halahala, told The Voice they were alerted to the incident shortly after it happened.

“The aunt revealed she found the baby lying on the bed. When she tried to wake him, she noticed he was unconscious and screamed for help,” explained the superintendent.

The police boss continued that the baby was taken to Tutume Primary Hospital where he was confirmed dead. Although he did not go into detail out of respect for the mourning family, Halahala revealed a note was uncovered at the boy’s home.

The top cop further disclosed his officers had been searching for the dead toddler’s dad throughout the night.

It seems the wanted man fled to Ghetto, where he took his own life at a friend’s rented house in Monarch Area 9 the following morning.

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The home owner had left him alone in the house, only to find him swinging from the roof, a rope around his neck, when he returned.

By the time The Voice arrived on the scene, at 12 midday, the cops had already cut down the corpse and taken it away.

Attempting to connect the deadly dots, a neighbour, who wished for their names to be kept out of the paper, reasoned, “He killed himself because he killed his son in Tutume yesterday. The police were looking for him. I wonder what got into this guy because he was a cool person!”

CONFIRMING SAD NEWS: Khumalo

Meanwhile, in an interview with Francistown Central Assistant Superintendent, Douglas Khumalo confirmed his officers were investigating a suicide case reported to his station at around 11am.

“The deceased is a 30-year-old man and he was certified dead upon arrival at Area W clinic. He hanged himself in his friend’s house after he left him alone. We suspect he is the same person whom Tutume police have been looking for in connection with the child’s death that was committed in Tutume yesterday,” closed Khumalo.

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