• as missing, head and other body parts found
• killer surrenders to the police

’Marafaele Mohloboli

THE mysterious murder of 25-year-old ‘Makhutlang Lesekele (nee ‘Maleshoane Tukula) has finally been solved almost two months after her dismembered body parts were discovered in a bushy area in Kholokoe, Leribe.

This after her lover, a 43-year-old Ha Posholi, Berea man handed himself to Maputsoe police and confessed to murdering her.

The suspect, who has been identified as Morero Posholi, also led the police to different places where he had dumped her head and other body parts after savagely hacking them off from the rest of the body.

Posholi’s surrender and the discovery of the missing body parts should bring some measure of closure to the family of Ms Tukula and the nation.

The public reacted with shock and horror when Ms Tukula’s remains were discovered by young herd boys in Kholokoe on 22 July 2020.

The shocked herdboys initially discovered Maleshoane’s right leg that appeared to have been freshly severed from the rest of her body.

Police investigators later conducted a search and discovered two arms that had been severed from the collarbone. They also discovered the other leg and a thigh that had also been severed from the rest of the body. The rest of the body parts, including the head, have still not been found.

“As it is, we can’t even say whether this is just another random barbaric killing of a vulnerable woman or a ritual murder,” police spokesperson Superintendent Mpiti Mopeli said at the time.

Shortly after the grisly find, Ms Tukula’s distraught father, Paki Tukula, told the Lesotho Times that his married daughter and her husband were no longer living together after the latter trekked to South Africa in search of employment early this year.

The husband had not returned to Lesotho after the two countries’ borders were closed back in March as part of efforts to stop the spread of the deadly Coronavirus (Covid-19).

It has since emerged that Ms Tukula entered into an affair with Posholi who later butchered her to death. This after she allegedly tried to end the extra-marital affair.

After almost two months of hiding while the police went on wild goose chase, Posholi eventually handed himself to the police on Monday and confessed to the brutal killing.

Supt Mopeli this week told the Sunday Express that they were relieved that they had finally made “a breakthrough” in the callous murder.

“A 43-year-old man handed himself over to Maputsoe police on Monday,” Supt Mopeli said.

“This is a breakthrough and we expect to get all the answers to the questions that had remained unanswered after the gruesome murder. We believe that even the Tukula family will find closure and finally give their daughter a decent funeral.

“Following his confession on Monday, the suspect took us to his house in Ha-‘Mathata, Maputsoe and showed us Ms Tukula’s torso which he had dumped in the toilet. He also led us to his neighbour’s toilet where he had dumped her head and to another nearby toilet where he had concealed her other thigh.

“He confessed to using a knife to kill Ms Tukula because she had dumped him. He will soon appear in the Leribe Magistrates’ Court on murder charges,” said Supt Mopeli.

Posholi subsequently appeared in court on Wednesday and he was remanded in custody to 16 September 2020.

The deceased’s father, Mr Tukula, said they were relieved that his daughter’s killer had been caught and her missing body parts found.

“We are relieved that the missing body parts have been found. The pain shall gradually subside. We will bury her after consulting her in-laws,” Mr Tukula said.