- Father of deceased says post-mortem concluded death by strangulation
- Police say a docket has been forwarded to DPP
- Father of deceased says the police are not communicating
SESUPO RANTSIMAKO
The father of a suspect who died following an encounter with officers of Botswana Police Service (BPS), Morolong Mosimanyana, has accused the police of trying to conceal how his son, Koolopile Koolopile, died.
Koolopile was allegedly strangled to death by the police officers during the stop-and-search operation at Setata veterinary gate in the North West District sometime last year.
This week Mosimanyana told The Botswana Gazette that although BPS undertook to open an inquest into his son’s death, nine months later nothing has been done and the police are not communicating.
Post-mortem
Mosimanyana said the silence is leading him to believe the police intend to conceal the cause of Koolopile’s death even though the result of a post-mortem examination on the body concluded that it was death by strangulation.
“The post-mortem report was released early this year and proved that my son was strangled to death, but I am in the dark about progress in the matter
“I am now thinking of approaching the Commissioner of Police for answers. I want justice for my son because he was suspected of carrying drugs and killed.”
Scuffle
Confirming the incident in November last year, BPS spokesperson Dipheko Motube denied allegations that the deceased was strangled after he tried to conceal a packet of drugs by swallowing it.
“Although there was a scuffle between him and members of BPS, he was not strangled,” he said. “The deceased fell unconscious after swallowing packets suspected to be drugs. Following this, he was taken to Letsholathebe Memorial Hospital where he was subsequently certified dead.”
Motube added that the packets that the deceased swallowed were eventually recovered and sent to a laboratory for a forensic audit.
Docket
Responding Gazette enquiries this week, Near Bagali of BPS public relations said a docket has been forwarded to the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
“Investigations were completed in April this year and the docket has been forwarded to DPP for further instructions,” he stated.