Botswana: Sex Workers On the Attack
The dark side of filthy street sex-trade became darker for a Francistown man who was hammered on the head with an iron bar after the alleged traders rejected his money offer.
Feeling jilted, the enraged and wounded 28-year old Molebi Mosugadikobo allegedly torched a house belonging to some Zimbabwean women believed to be prostitutes.
This week Mosugadikobo appeared before a Francistown Magistrates court. Although he was nabbed at the scene shortly after the crime, the young man pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Mosugadikobo, whose apparent intentions was to have a fling with one of three Zimbabwean women on the fateful night, allegedly broke the door and forced his way in after the occupants refused to open for him. Suspicious that the intruder might be a thief, one of the women said she attacked Mosugadikobo with an iron bar on the head when he stepped in their rented Monarch house.
Although the man, who works for a car-wash, did not explain precisely what he needed, the occupants revealed that Mosugadikobo merely said he wanted “to buy”.
Relating the events of last Thursday night, Caroline Mukwanazwi, 29, said Mosugadikobo never told them what he was looking for. She said the man initially knocked at the door several times before he broke it and forced his way inside.
“I was fast asleep with my room-mate when we were awakened by a knock at the door. The unexpected visitor later asked us to open the door as he wanted ‘to buy’. The man told us that he had P50 and wanted to buy, but never explained what exactly he was referring to.”
Denying allegations that she was practising prostitution, the mother of three said the intruder even proceeded to the window where he further convinced them to open and get the money before hand.
“He proposed to give the money through the window and also insisted that he was prepared to hike the amount to P100. When we told him to go to hell, he broke into the house. When he showed up his head I caught him with an iron bar on the head.”
Mukwanazwi revealed that after the attack, the intruder disappeared in the darkness of the night only to come later holding some container filled petrol.
“He splashed our house with the petrol and set it on fire. It was just fortunate that we all managed to escape unharmed,” the woman said, adding that, “the guy was very furious and threatened to kill me. The crowd that had gathered around the house managed to hold him back and also put down the fire before it could damage our property.”
Mukwanazwi’s roommate claimed that she was asleep when everything started.
Grace Selina Nyama, 25, said Mosugadikobo came at night and started pleading with them to open the house since he wanted sexual services.
Nyama also denied allegations that she was into prostitution although she failed to explain how the three of them survived as they were unemployed. She revealed that although she escaped unharmed from the house the fire destroyed the blankets.
A neighbour, Pelaelo, said he heard the scream from the women’s house and when he went to investigate he found that the door lock had been broken.
“The intruder had run away and while I was still helping to fix the lock, Molebi came holding a container with petrol in it. He was cursing and told the crowd that had formed to kill him if they wanted. I was so shocked because I had just parted with the guy some few minutes earlier while we were from a drinking spree at Mmei secondary school.”
Pelaelo said before he could intervene, Mosugadikobo who was then bleeding from the wound splashed the fuel on the thatched roof and stroke a match setting the house on fire. “Shockingly the guy was the one who started screaming calling for help from neighbours when the house caught fire. He actually helped us set off the fire but when the police and the fire brigade arrived, he collapsed,” said Pelaelo who confirmed that the occupants of the house were reputed for their commercial sex-work. “Everyone knows that the women sell their bodies. What I am not sure of is whether they ever bring their clients here. Normally their clients pick them here from their house and bring them later. Sometimes they do their business in town especially at crowded places like night clubs and along the Blue Jacket Street.”
Another neighbour also said that the three ladies were active in the sex trade. Kabelo Mokibe, 25, said on the night of the incident heard some noise but decided not to pay much attention as such altercations happened often at the house whenever the women differ with their clients. “Molebi knew that the women were selling. Maybe it’s just that the young man came at the wrong time and they did not know him and probably thought he was a thief. Otherwise they are lying when they claim that they are not prostitutes,” he said.
On Wednesday Mosugadikobo who had been discharged from hospital appeared before the magistrates court and the prosecution applied that he be remanded in custody till next week. The case continues on Monday when Mosugadikobo is expected to enter a formal plea as he had revealed that he intended to engage a lawyer.
from allafrica.com