Keiso Mohloboli
Lesotho Police Staff Association (LEPOSA) president Inspector Molibeli Damane was arrested on Thursday for allegedly shooting his wife at her workplace, critically injuring the woman in the process.
Inspector Damane remains in police custody and is set to appear in court this week.
Police spokesperson Clifford Molefe confirmed a police officer allegedly shot his wife in her office but would not disclose any names.
“I can confirm that one police officer shot his wife at her workplace yesterday but I am not at liberty to disclose his identity or further details because he has not yet appeared in court.
“The officer is still in police custody and investigations are continuing. He will probably appear in court next week,” Senior Inspector Molefe said on Friday.
However, police sources told the Sunday Express the officer in question is Inspector Damane, who was elected LEPOSA president in April this year.
The Sunday Express has also learnt Insp Damane was taken to the Maseru Magistrate’s Court on Friday afternoon but could not establish why.
Contacted for comment, Inspector Damane’s lawyer, Advocate Lepeli Molapo, said: “I can’t say anything at the moment because my client has not appeared in court. He just came to the Magistrate’s Court to meet in chambers for certain processes. He will appear in court probably on Monday. For now, he is still in police custody.”
Meanwhile, when the Sunday Express crew visited Insp Damane’s home at Ha Mabote Police Station on Friday to hear the family’s side of the story, there was no-body at the residence.
However, one of the police sources who spoke to the Sunday Express said Insp Damane allegedly attacked his wife soon after arriving from Thaba-Tseka where he had attended a three-day Central Executive Conference of LEPOSA.
“I really don’t know if they had a fight or what, over the phone. It is so unlike him to behave that way. He went straight to his wife’s workplace at LNDC Centre along Kingsway and shot her twice—below the nose and in the chest.
“Luckily, the wife survived but she is fighting for her life at Tšepong Hospital,” the police source added.