After four days on the run to evade police, double murder suspect Unangoni Salathi (35) was this week finally arrested and arraigned before Francistown Chief Magistrate Game Mooketsi on Wednesday for killing his two children aged three years and 11 months.
Salathi allegedly silt three-year-old Loapi Enias and 11-month-old Sesto Enias with a sharp object at their rented home in Monarch on Saturday, while the mother of the two children was on errands in town. After ruthlessly ending the innocent lives of the children, Salathi fled the scene. Only for the mother to return and stumble on the lifeless bodies of her children in pools of blood.
Salathi, who comes from Matobo village was brought to court under heavy escort on Wednesday morning where he was not asked to plead.
“We plead with the court to have the accused remanded in custody, as investigations are still fresh. The suspect was only apprehended yesterday. And the Investigating Officer is not present, as he is attending to the post-mortem proceedings,” explained Prosecutor Ditshotlo Mpale. Salathi returns to court next week on Thursday.
Since Saturday police officers from Central Police station and residents of Monarch mounted an intense search for a 35-year-old former security guard and insurance consultant. According to Central Police Station Commander Superintendent Mogomotsi Kesupile, Salathi was arrested in Makuta, a few kilometres from his home village of Matobo.
“The suspect was arrested by residents of Makuta, who suspected he was a criminal. He was detained by the villagers around 01:00 in the morning and was then handed to the police officer at the local police post where he was kept in the cell. In the morning the suspect was handed over to Tutume police,” explained Kesupile.
Superintendent Kesupile applauded the residents of Makuta for their swift action in detaining Salathi, who had been on the run since Saturday.
Meanwhile, a resident of Makuta who requested to remain anonymous narrated how Salathi was apprehended.
“He was found seated next to a fire in one of the homesteads of Makuta. He was warming himself. When he saw a group of men approaching the yard, the suspect got up and tried to flee, but the men caught him and questioned him. He mumbled senseless stories, and that is how they suspected he was a thief,” narrated the middle-aged man.
“It seems the suspect had been knocking on several homes in Makuta looking for a place to sleep and food to eat. He even told his apprehenders the wrong name and that he was from Tutume.”
