Segametsi Mogomotsi was a 14-year-old schoolgirl who was found murdered on 6 November 1994 in

Mochudi Mochudi is one of the larger villages in Botswana with a population of 44,815 people in 2011. It is situated in the Bakgatla tribal region, in Kgatleng District, about northeast of Gaborone. The village lies several kilometres from the main G ...

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...

. She went missing sometime on 5 November, and her body was found naked and mutilated in an open space the next morning. The ''dipheko'' (

medicine murder Murder for body parts also known as medicine murder (not to be confused with "medical murder") refers to the killing of a human being in order to excise body parts to use as medicine or purposes in witchcraft. Medicine murder is viewed as the ob ...

) sparked protests by the students at the Radikolo Community Junior Secondary School (RCJSS), the school where she attended, as well as among the citizens of Mochudi. The protests led to riots in neighbouring

Gaborone Gaborone ( , , ) is the capital and largest city of Botswana with a population of 246,325 based on the 2022 census, about 10% of the total population of Botswana. Its agglomeration is home to 421,907 inhabitants at the 2011 census. Gaboron ...

, prompting the government of Botswana to call in

Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's 32 boroughs, but not the City of London, the square mile that forms London's ...

. No one has been formally charged with the murder, and an official police report was conducted, but as of August 2012, the results have not yet been released. The murder inspired the stories in

Unity Dow Unity Dow ( Diswai; born 23 April 1959) is a Motswana lawyer, human rights activist, specially elected member of parliament, and a writer. She formerly served as a judge on the High Court of Botswana and in various government ministries. Born ...

's novel ''The Screaming of the Innocent'', Michael Stanley's mystery ''Deadly Harvest'', and

Alexander McCall Smith Alexander "Sandy" McCall Smith, CBE, FRSE (born 24 August 1948), is a British writer. He was raised in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and formerly Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh. He became an expert on medical law and ...

novel ''

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency ''The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency'' is a series of novels by Alexander McCall Smith set in Botswana and featuring the character Mma Precious Ramotswe. The series is named after the first novel, published in 1998. Twenty-two novels have been p ...

''.

Background

The ritual murder of a person whose body parts are cut off to make ''

muti Muthi is a traditional medicine practice in Southern Africa as far north as Lake Tanganyika. Name In South African English, the word ''muti'' is derived from the Zulu language, Zulu/Xhosa language, Xhosa/Northern Ndebele language, Northern Nde ...

'' (medicine) that is used in ceremonies to promote business deals or success is common in Botswana. The British dealt with ritual murder cases when the country was still a

protectorate A protectorate, in the context of international relations, is a State (polity), state that is under protection by another state for defence against aggression and other violations of law. It is a dependent territory that enjoys autonomy over m ...

as early as the 1930s, and social scientist Cyprian Fisiy has called witchcraft "the primary concern of most African communities". Children, especially highly educated students, are the primary targets of dipheko (rituals) because of their perceived potential for success. When social anthropologist Ørnulf Gulbrandsen interviewed several Batswana, one man said that, "we have no other way to explain how some people become rich overnight". Most accused people in cases of ritual murders recount either being possessed to murder or being threatened by future attacks through ''boloi'' (witchcraft) and thus were coerced to kill.

Murder

In November 1996, anthropologist Charlanne Burke interviewed a student who summarised the murder:

Investigation

Segametsi's stepfather was arrested after confessing that he and other local businessmen killed the girl, but he retracted his statement, saying that the confession was really a second-hand account. While the named businessmen were arrested, they were released, sparking controversy in Mochudi. In 2008, Sekobye Mokgalo, one of the named businessmen, asked for government compensation for the wrongful conviction. In 2009, he received 10000,000 Botswana pula for damages from the government.

Protests

In January 1995, students at Radikolo Community Junior Secondary School organized a march at the District Commissioner's office in Mochudi in response "perceived ..government collusion in the practice of witchcraft". The march escalated into riots and protesters burned the house of the suspects. The violence continued in Gaborone starting on 16 February 1995. An ''ad hoc'' group, the Revolutionary War Council, pressed for justice "without hestate's intervention." The Special Services Group, the riot police of the

Botswana Defence Force The Botswana Defence Force (BDF, tn, Sesole Sa Botswana) is the military of Botswana. The main component of the BDF is the Botswana Ground Force; there is also an air wing and a riverine patrol contingent attached to the ground forces, with 10 ...

, used tear gas on protesters in the central business district while students at the

University of Botswana The University of Botswana, popularly known as UB, was established in 1982 as the first institution of higher education in Botswana. The university has three campuses: one in the capital city Gaborone, one in Francistown, and another in Maun. T ...

stormed an ongoing meeting of the

National Assembly of Botswana The National Assembly is the legislative body of Botswana's national government. With the President, the National Assembly forms Botswana's unicameral Parliament. It is advised by the Ntlo ya Dikgosi: a council of chiefs which is not a house of Pa ...

. President

Quett Masire 'Ketumile Quett Joni Masire'', GCMG (24 July 1926 – 22 June 2017) was the second and longest-serving President of Botswana, in office from 1980 to 1998. He was honored with the Knighthood of the Grand Cross of Saint Michael and Saint Geor ...

issued a statement in response to the protests: Both rioters and police were injured: more than fifteen protesters were treated for rubber bullet wounds at the Deborah Relief Memorial Hospital, a small boy was killed and a bystander was paralyzed; both by police rubber bullets. A man was later executed by the police for the protests. The

Botswana National Front The Botswana National Front (BNF) is a social democratic political party in Botswana. It has been the main opposition party in Botswana since the 1969 elections. The party achieved its greatest electoral success in the 1994 elections, when it ...

Youth League criticized the government's response to the riots, saying that the military force was "not in keeping with democratic practice and may signal the emergence of a police/military state".

References

Sources