The father of a 30-year-old Botswana woman, who was arrested for smuggling heroin into Bangladesh, is still alive and awaiting trial.
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While it remained unclear whether the accused was still alive, last week, media reports stated that Lesedi Molapisi was set to be executed on Friday for smuggling 3kg of the drug into Bangladesh.
However, her father, Shakwane Molapisi, told television news channel Newzroom Afrika that the trial against his daughter had not yet started.
According to the father, his unemployed daughter left home on 16 January, seven days before she was arrested for possession of illegal drugs.
The Zimbabwean Mail reports that she was tried, found guilty, and sentenced to death.
Shakwane told the channel that he was communicating with his daughter and that court proceedings remained ongoing.
“The trial has not yet started, that is what I know, he said. “The last communication I had with her was last week. She appeared in court on November 14 for mention not trial,” her father told Newzroom Afrika.
The father said that he had managed to retrieve a letter from his daughter’s luggage in Botswana, where a tour business offered to assist Lesedi in sourcing the ready-made garments and provide accommodation for her in Bangladesh.
“This suggests that she might have been lured into this, because they promised that they will assist her to go and buy ready-made garments in Bangladesh so that she could resell here in Botswana. That is when she went to Bangladesh, and she was arrested with the so-called illegal drug.“
He added that he had not been in contact with his daughter which had made it difficult to get clarity on the matter.
According to Amnesty International, 579 executions were recorded in 18 countries in 2021, an increase of 20 percent from the 483 recorded in 2020.
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