A tragic incident has shaken the entire community in Botswana. The life of a teenage girl at Ditsweletse Junior School in Letlhakane was cut short by her own mother on Wednesday. Thandi Mathatsa, 13, was killed by her 39-year-old mother in the Modikwana area of Serowe. The Grade 1 student lived with her father and stepmother in Letlhakane. She had taken public transport to visit her mother in Serowe.

The girl was looking forward to seeing her mother

The mother had asked Thandi's father to send her daughter home earlier in the week. She had asked because she wanted to buy her some new clothes. Excited by the prospect of new clothes, the bubbly Thandi left the diamond town with her mother in the afternoon to go to Serowe. She never lived to see the next day.

The District Commander, Chief Superintendent Paul Oketsang, had been alerted to a possible homicide. He said they received a report from the neighbourhood of a homicide that evening. They went to the scene to see what was going on. Upon seeing the mother, their attention was drawn to her odd behavior.

"What I can confirm is that the mother is in custody as a murder suspect. I would add that when we arrived at the scene the mother was clearly unwell. She appeared to be hallucinating and we felt that she needed to be examined by a professional," said Mr Oketsang.

The mother was rushed to a psychiatric hospital

The police chief said she was sent to Sekgoma Memorial Hospital. She was later transferred to Sbrana Mental Hospital for further observation. "It should however be noted that she is in police custody and we are investigating her in connection with the death of her daughter," he added.

Oketsang also said that based on preliminary investigations, it is likely that the girl died of suffocation. "However, we cannot jump to conclusions. We will have to wait for the autopsy results to know the exact cause of death. This is a sensitive issue, especially because it involves a child and a potentially unstable mother," Oketsang said.

The woman was undergoing treatment for a mental problem

Thandi's mother had received bad news about her health from Sekgoma Memorial Hospital earlier in the week. "The doctors had found out that she had brain cancer which was already in its final stage," said a member of the group.

A family member, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the incident had upset residents of the Modikwana area of Serowe. The elderly woman described Thandi as a well-behaved child who would never hurt a fly. "She was a lovely girl and her death has left me in shock," she said.

The elderly woman said she was one of the first people to hear the tragic news. "She first told her neighbour, then the news spread to other neighbourhoods, because we are all related to her.

MamP's

© Photo Credits: TheVoiceBW

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