Step dad chases step daughter with a flaming log

A 66-year-old man of Ngware settlement in Kweneng District is facing a criminal charge for injuring his step-daughter with flaming piece of wood.

In a fit of rage Lebihetswe Pitlagano allegedly snatched a flaming red log from the fire and swung it at her 17 year old step daughter causing burns to her face and chest.

The Voice learnt that Pitlagano lost his cool during a heated argument when the 17 year old reminded him that he was not her biological father.

The argument broke out as the family gathered around a fire in the morning, and according to information gathered by this publication, when Pitlagano lost the verbal battle against the teenager, the fight turned physical.

Narrating details of the story in court, the Investigating Officer, Constable Kgakgamatso Kolonti, said she received a report of assault occasioning actual bodily harm that morning.

According to Kolonti, Pitlagano who made the fire early in the morning did not want her stepdaughter anywhere near it. However, his attempts to make her leave were met with a scathing verbal attack from the teenager.

Upon receiving the report, the police officer issued the girl with a medical report form and took her to Ngware Clinic where she was later referred to Letlhakeng Primary Hospital.

The remorseful step father was arrested the following day, and upon questioning he admitted to the offence.

During cross-examination Pitlagano did not challenge Kolonti’s testimony, but when the piece of firewood was presented before court as an exhibit, he objected.

He expressed shock and animatedly told court the wood presented in court was a different one. started raising his voice in disagreement.

“It’s supposed to be a ‘moretlwa’ not ‘moologa’ wood, that one is not the wrong exhibit,” shouted a bemused Pitlagano.

Chief Magistrate Gaseitsewe Tonoki however told him that whether the piece of wood was a moretlwa or moologa it did not make much of a difference, and therefore allowed the disputed firewood to be marked as an exhibit.

Countering the stepdaughter’s testimony , Pitlagano told court that he was in fact attacked first, and the teenager got burnt when he blocked a violent swing of the burning wood.

“She found me at her grandmother’s place, and during our argument she grabbed the burning wood and swung it at me. I grabbed her arm in an attempt to block the strike, and in the process she got burned, ” Pitlagano told court.

He further said after the incident, the girl and her elder sister rushed to report the matter to the police who then arrested him the next and detained him for three days before he was arraigned in court.

The trial has been scheduled for continuation on June 24th, 2024 when Pitlagano’s only witness will take the stand.