Besides murdering Patel, whose contract in the country had just come to an end and was due to return to his native India in two days, they are alleged to have robbed the deceased and his friend of their money, which included P2,000, US $1000, a cheque of 1510,50 Indian rupees, hand bags and jewellery.
Ambrose Mubika is prosecuting.
This is the first case to come before Botswana Courts in which a Zimbabwean woman will be facing murder charges. In the past, it has all been men’s affairs.
There are currently a dozen Zimbabwean males facing murder charges in Botswana.
These include four men who are facing murder charges for having murdered a woman and then robbing her of her cell phones and money along the Orapa/Francistown Road.
The woman is reported to have been on her way to attending the funeral of a relative.
Another quartet of Zimbabwean males was arrested for allegedly killing a South African business man on the outskirts of Oodi Village, north of the capital.
One Zimbabwean allegedly shot and killed a night watchman in Francistown.
Currently, the country’s death row cells hosts one Zimbabwean citizen, Gerald Dube, who was sentenced to death for having brutally killed four of his relatives: two children, their mother and a maid.
Dube’s only hope is that the Court of Appeal reverses the Lower Court judgment or else he will face the noose.
The other foreigner currently on death row is Michael Molefe, a South African who shot and killed a Zimbabwean citizen during an armed robbery.
Besides those who are in jail, an unspecified number of Zimbabweans have allegedly been shot and killed by police and residents’ owners around the country over the past years during what is alleged were attempts to carry out armed robberies.
Amongst these are four males who were gunned down by members of the security services as they were allegedly on their way to rob a Gaborone garage. The four robbers were confirmed to be Zimbabwean citizens but carried foreign passports.
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