BULAWAYO - Botswana police have warned traditional chiefs that they will be arrested if they continue flogging foreigners and locals for petty crimes.Flogging without a proper hearing in courts has become the norm among Botswanas traditional chiefs. There has been an outcry in the past recent years by Zimbabweans visiting or working in Botswana rural areas that they were subject to flogging, especially for not holding proper travel documents.
Police Commander, Nelson Kealotswe was quoted recently in a Botswana newspaper saying: A number of tribesmen in the villages are likely to face charges for unlawful thrashing others.
Three men reported to us last year that they had been unlawful caned and we are investigating those reports. Once our investigations are over we are likely to charge those involved with either common assault or assault occasioning bodily harm depending on the extent of the injuries from the thrashing.
An estimated 125,000 Zimbabweans enter Botswana each month and tensions have risen between the two countries with Botswanas blaming immigrants for an increase in crime.
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