Botswana: A forty five year old man from Francistown has admitted to setting his girlfriend’s house on fire in a fit of rage. The man and the girl whose house was torched were in a relationship and had an argument five days previously.
In the said argument, the culprit threatened the girl that he would burn her house or kill himself. The culprit who has been identified as Keonnetseng Dibuile torched the house on Wednesday.
The culprit has since been arrested by the Police Force of Francistown on the charges of Arson. The victim has also confessed to his crime in front of the Police.
The culprit is a resident of the Somerset Community in Francistown. He highlighted that the argument which triggered this offense happened five days before the incident. The victim was a resident of the Tatisiding’s Newstance ward.
Keonnetseng Dibuile’s set the house on fire at around 00:35hrs on 9 April. The Police believes that the culprit intended to burn his lover alive in the house. However she was at her mother’s house, which is also located in the same yard.
The girlfriend alerted the police about the arson on her house which cost her damages worth approximately P 9,000. The culprit has been brought in front of the Francistown Magistrates Court last Friday.
The victim’s lawyer has argued in the court against granting bail to the culprit as the incident is still fresh. The officials have shared that they are worried that the suspect may do something more damaging to the victim if he is granted bail.
The culprit, Keonnetseng Dibuile has been kept under lock in the prison till the next hearing of the court for fact reading. The timing of the arson attempt suggests that the victim was also on target of the suspect.
In light of this, the suspect should have been charged with attempt to murder, however this was not done and only the charge of arson was laid upon the culprit.
Keonnetseng Dibuile will stay in prison till April 24, on which day, the court will reconvene and further actions will be taken.