Husband kills twin sister thinking it is his wife

BY YVONNE MOOKA

Tshwaane woman whom The Midweek Sun reported had escaped murder by a whisker two years ago, is no more, this publication has learned.
Mpipi Motshwakgo had been in an abusive relationship with the father of her son for three years. Last year the boyfriend allegedly threatened to kill her by uttering the words ‘Ngwaga e ga e go helele’ meaning she would be dead before the end of the year. Though the police arrestd him, Motshwakgo’s grandmother Mmaosi Motshwakgo says she had a habit of dropping the cases of threat to kill against him. In the latest case, it is said that he killed her with an axe and went on to kill himself. “He told her several times that he would kill her one day, even in front of me,” said the granny.

Women’s Shelter
According to Kgomotso Kelaotswe, Counsellor Supervisor at Kagisano Women’s Shelter, cases of threat to kill among women are rife. She says the Shelter recently dealt with a case where a man mistakenly killed his wife’s sister. They had been having disagreements and she ran to the Shelter. She would later move to her mother’s place, where the husband hired people to kill her. “She and the sister were identical and the people killed the sister instead,” she says.  In another case, a girlfriend was shot in the stomach by her boyfriend, after threatening to kill her several times. She survived. Another victim wanted reconciliation and went on and dropped a threat to kill charge with the police. She survived stabbings.
“The police tried to talk sense into her but she refused and went back to him, however scary it was,” she says. Kelaotswe says they have a lot of relapse cases. She says even though they give women life skills to sustain themselves after they leave the Shelter, they always come back with same issues of abuse.  She advises them to report cases of threat to kill and to stop protecting perpetrators.

The Law
Section 220 (1) of the Penal Code states, “Any person who without lawful excuse utters or directly or indirectly causes any person to receive a threat whether in writing or not, to kill any person is guilty of an offence and is liable to an imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years.”Botswana Police Service Assistant Commissioner Witness Bosija says that threat to kill affects both males and females. Most of the causes are family, labour and intimate disputes/grievances. “BPS treats threat to kill as a serious offence, hence our policy of ‘arrest, charge and bring offender/s to justice.’ Therefore, cases of threat to kill cannot be withdrawn at the police station but consideration can only be made by the courts,” he says.Last year, 568 cases were recorded while 559 were registered in 2015; and 619 in 2014 and 735 in 2013. Traits of a Potential Spouse Killer Intense controlling behaviour; Explosive feelings of rage; Difficulty forming intimate relationships; Poor impulse control; Inability to understand your feelings; Absence of emotions like remorse and sympathy; Searches out easy pleasure (i.e. a thrill seeker);  
Intense feelings of victimisation and rejection; Devalues human life and pathologically idealizes partner. (Dr. Robi Ludwig, psychotherapist and author of "Till Death Do Us Part: Love, Marriage and the Mind of the Killer Spouse.")