𝐒𝐄𝐁𝐈𝐍𝐀 𝐌𝐀𝐍 𝐖𝐇𝐎 𝐊𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐃 𝟑-𝐘𝐄𝐀𝐑-𝐎𝐋𝐃 𝐃𝐀𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐁𝐄𝐃𝐖𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐒 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐁𝐋𝐄𝐃 𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐃𝐇𝐎𝐎𝐃 Two weeks ago, I sat inside Justice Motumise’s courtroom at the Gaborone High Court as proceedings in one of the most disturbing child murder cases unfolded. Before court was Gofaone Macha, a 33-year-old man from Sebina Village, who has pleaded guilty to the murder of his biological three-year-old daughter. The child, who had a twin sibling, died on May 4, 2019 after sustained and severe assault at the hands of her own father. According to facts presented before court, Macha habitually beat the toddler as punishment for bedwetting. On the day in question, the beatings became so excessive that the child succumbed to the injuries. Having been convicted on his own plea, the matter proceeded to the enquiry on extenuating circumstances, a crucial stage in murder cases where the court determines whether there are factors that morally reduce the accused person’s blameworthiness and may save him from the death penalty. Macha elected to give unsworn evidence. Tall, dark and well -spoken, the young man stood before court and narrated a troubled upbringing, hoping it would persuade the court to find that there were circumstances which led him to commit the offence. He told the court that he was raised in Sebina by a single mother and never knew his father. According to him, corporal punishment was a constant feature of his childhood. He said he was often severely beaten as a form of discipline whenever he misbehaved. “I am before court because I am convicted of killing my child. I started by training them to use a bucket for urinating. I would beat them during the training. The other twin responded well, but the deceased was slow. I was beating them to teach them that it was wrong to mess themselves or bedwet,” Macha told the court. He further revealed that he was heavily abusing alcohol and drugs at the time. Macha said he drank excessively and smoked dagga, cigarettes, methane and mythalin on a daily basis. According to him, his substance abuse intensified after he lost his job three weeks before the murder. “Three weeks prior to the murder, I was fired from my job and this affected me emotionally, physically and socially. I smoked these substances so that I could feel intoxicated and feel good. When I did not smoke, I did not feel normal,” he said. Macha also pleaded youthfulness. He told court he was only 24 years old when he killed his daughter and had become a father at the age of 21, an age at which he said he was immature and ill-equipped for parenthood. He insisted that growing up without a father negatively affected his ability to understand fatherhood. “Being raised by a single mother had a bearing on me trying to be a father. I grew up without a father. I did not know what being a father looked like. I did not see it anywhere,” he submitted. Macha therefore prayed with the court to consider his violent upbringing, fatherlessness, youth and intoxication as extenuating circumstances. However, state prosecutor Ms Khumoetsile Tirelo strongly opposed the existence of any such circumstances. Tirelo argued that at the time of committing the offence, Macha was mature enough to appreciate the consequences of his actions and take care of his family. On his claims of intoxication, the prosecutor submitted that the issue was never raised during investigations nor during the presentation of facts, suggesting that it was an afterthought. “On issue of intoxication, during investigations and during facts presentation, it was never mentioned that he was dealing with drugs and drinking excessively. It was only recently when the convict mentioned these drugs. Clearly this is an afterthought,” argued Tirelo. She added that even if the court were to accept that he was abusing substances, that alone painted him as a danger to society and to himself. The prosecutor further argued that being beaten as a child s