. . . as incidents of brutal killings escalate
Pascalinah Kabi
What began as a normal Thursday wintry morning for a Mazenod resident quickly turned into an unforgettable spine chilling experience which appeared to have been taken straight from a horror movie scene.
The woman (name withheld) stepped out of her house that morning to sweep her yard as she always did, only this time to be confronted by the gruesome spectacle of the head of an infant that had been buried in her yard.
The unidentified infant, just few months old, was buried in her yard the previous night and the discovery the next morning shocked the entire Ha Lekhobanyane community in Mazenod.
“Yesterday the whole village was in shock as news that an infant’s head was found buried in the woman’s yard,” one resident told the Sunday Express.
“We rushed to the house and upon arrival, the heap in which the child’s head was buried had been removed and the head was exposed in full view on the ground awaiting police.”
The source said the police came that same morning, adding that the incident had left hundreds of Ha Lekhobanyane villagers in shock amid ongoing killings in the country.
Police spokesperson Superintendent Clifford Molefe confirmed that the police retrieved the infant’s head and the “the chief gave us a place where the head was buried on the same day”.
He said no arrests had been made so far.
Only last week, a 14 year-old Butha-Buthe High School female learner, Mojabeng Nkhasi’s lifeless body was discovered in a donga in Butha-Buthe four days after her disappearance.
Narrating the ordeal to this paper, Ms Mojabeng’s father, Charles Nkhasi said he had last seen her when she left for school on Thursday morning.
“She was her normal smiling, shy self when she left but when she didn’t return home that evening we got worried and sent her closest friend a WhatsApp message, asking about her.
“She replied that she had last seen her at about 5pm the same day and she gave us the number of one of the learners who had boarded public transport with Mojabeng after school,” Mr Nkhasi said.
Mr Nkhasi said they however failed to get hold of the fellow learner and sent a relative who was told the learner had alighted from the taxi before Ms Mojabeng.
He said they immediately called a search party for Ms Mojabeng but called it off after several hours.
They subsequently filed a missing person’s report with Butha-Buthe police that night and that they only managed to trace the taxi driver and conductor on Friday.
“We informed the teachers of Mojabeng’s disappearance and we also traced the taxi driver and conductor who said they dropped my child at her bus stop – ‘Maice on Thursday evening.
“On Monday I went back to the police and the Criminal Investigation Division boss immediately assembled an investigating team.
When I alighted from a taxi at my bus stop on Monday evening, I met a group of people running towards the direction where I was informed that a dead body had been discovered.
“I joined them only to find my daughter in a donga. I say she was placed in a donga because there was evidence suggesting that she was only dropped in the donga to ensure that she was not easily spotted.
“I first spotted her socks and pair of shoes. As I got closer, I saw her face with eyes pooped out. Her eyes were as white as the snow, painting a picture of some who died hoping that she would live to tell her ordeal,” Mr Nkhasi said.
He said they immediately called the police who came and inspected the body and took it out of the donga.
They were then allowed to come closer to the corpse which had a big wound on the neck, suggesting her throat had been cut with a sharp object.
“On Tuesday I went to the police mortuary and I was informed that was the only wound she had. The police are yet to do a post-mortem,” he said.
Asked what came into his mind when he saw his lifeless daughter’s body lying in a donga, Mr Nkhasi said his heart was filled with indescribable pain and anger over the killing of the apple of his eye.
“She was my closest and I loved her with every fibre in my body. She was my last born and I felt so much pain knowing that I couldn’t protect her as her father and friend. I looked at her face and saw her eyes pooped out as if she so dearly hoped that she would live.
“I cannot even begin to describe the pain and quietness in my home. Her mother is an emotional wreck. She is deeply hurt but the support we have been receiving from Basotho is enormous.”
Superintendent Molefe said no arrests had been made in connection with Ms Mojabeng’s killing.
“We have however offered a M25 000 cash reward to anyone who can help the police arrest her killers,” he said.
Meanwhile, Christian Council of Lesotho (CCL) on Friday condemned the killings of women and girls.
“AS CCL, we are deeply disturbed by the abductions and slaughter of women and girls in the country.
“Every person was created in the image and likeliness of God. Every human being has a right to life. We urge those who are committing such heinous acts to stop,” CCL general secretary Khosi Makubakube said in a statement.
He said that they would pray today for “the (3 June) elections so that they will be peaceful, free and transparent”.
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